The Boekeman and Meers families present the 2019 Fill-The-Bucket Christmas Drive.
The Wongan Hills town centre was full of activity on Saturday 30th November as the Boekeman and Meers families came together to host a “Fill-The-Bucket” charity food drive for the local St Peter’s Anglican Church.
“Supporting our local community and giving back is something we have always valued and been involved with as a family business. This time we wanted to team up with another local business and encourage the kids to get involved too.” Ben Boekeman explains.
“Our goal for this food drive was to encourage Saturday shoppers to purchase just one extra non-perishable food item while shopping at IGA and place it in our telehandler bucket for donation to our community members who may be doing it tough this Christmas.”
Ben Boekeman parked the JCB Telehandler outside IGA which definitely drew some attention for shoppers and was a huge hit with the kids. Not shy of a photo opportunity, the kids posed with their donations before rolling their tins of soup and sauces into the bucket all day until full. The crowd grew once the BBQ was fired up, with IGA kindly donating supplies for a summer sausage sizzle.
For Braden Meers, owner of the Meers IGA retail group, this event was another feather in the cap of a locally run business who continue to support community initiatives. “The day was a great chance to bring our community together and collaborating with the Boekeman family allowed us to really give this event our all” says Braden.
Coincidentally Karen of the Wongan Hills Anglican Ladies Mother’s Union had planned a bake sale and raffle in the common area at IGA also. The whole day was a beautiful collaboration to support local Wongan Hills families.
“Taking the donations to St Peter’s at the end of the day and seeing how our drive has helped to fill the pantry there makes it all worthwhile and shows us firsthand the difference an event like this can make to the lives of people in our community.” Braden says
“The success of this event has definitely encouraged us to continue with collaborations like this. So, you’ll find our Boekeman’s team and the telehandler bucket at the Wongan Hills Harvest festival next weekend too.” Ben announced
If you missed out on Saturday’s event, then be sure to catch the Boekeman family with the Telehandler bucket at the upcoming Wongan Hills Harvest Festival on Saturday December 7th.
Both the Meers and Boekeman families actively use social media as a great tool to reach out to community members. You’ll always find the latest updates on both the Meers and Boekeman’s Facebook and Instagram pages.
