Good food for good causes at the Grant County Fair
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin HeraldLaurissa Martinez prepares tacos at the food booth sponsored by the youth group from Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church. The youth group uses the proceeds from its Grant County Fair booth for its projects.
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin Herald Laurissa Martinez adds the avocado to a torta at the food booth sponsored by the youth group at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church. The youth group uses the money raised for its projects, just like other non-profit booths at the fair.
Cheryl Schweizer/Columbia Basin HeraldVolunteers serve ice cream on a busy afternoon at the Block 40 booth. Proceeds from the booth go to support programs for kids in Block 40.
MOSES LAKE — There‘s a lot to see and do at the Grant County Fair, enough to make a person hungry. So - where’s a good place to eat?
Well. The Ephrata Lions serve a pretty good hamburger, and there’s pretty good pulled pork at the Grant County Animal Outreach booth. There are some pretty good tacos at the booth run by the youth group at the Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church.
There’s pretty good pizza at the Moses Lake High School Band Boosters booth. Moses Lake Lions are serving ice cream, and of course the Block 40 booth is famous for that soft-serve.
Those booths - and more - are run by charitable and service organizations, and the proceeds go to the projects of those groups. Okay, what are those projects?
“We always put it (the proceeds) toward the animals,” said Lorri Robinson, a volunteer with GCAO. “it helps us offset our $60,000 a year in medical bills,” said Carmen Derting, GCAO director. The animal shelter has been hit with a number of spendy medical procedures, including four cats who each had to have a leg amputated,
At the Catholic youth group booth, they’re serving tortas, “they’re like Mexican sandwiches,” said Ines Oronia. The tacos have that street-taco flavor - literally, and are served open-face with lime and peppers on the side. “Yummy. They’re yummy,” said Arrah Steffens, one of the adult volunteers at the booth.
The youth group uses the money to rent the gym next door at Park Orchard Elementary for open gym nights, said Christina Mejia, the youth group advisor.
Youth group leaders rented a bus for a trip to Spokane at Christmas time, so that kids could buy presents for their families without the families in tow. The booth proceeds paid for kids to go on a church retreat.
“Fun stuff,” Ines said. The Band Booster booth is run by band members. “We just use the money for anything, like, band trips,” said Andrew Steven, who’s in the percussion section. The band goes on the road occasionally to competitions and appearances, and makes a trip to perform at Disneyland every four years.
Lions clubs have a local and international focus on hearing and vision care, said Mike Melbye, who was serving ice cream and lion ears Thursday for the Moses Lake Lions. “Our money pretty much goes into the community,” he said, into its local projects and scholarships.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.