A big change for St. Patrick’s Anglican Church and the annual Jiggs Dinner

For community groups and organizations that rely on support through fundraising events, the pandemic has made it nearly impossible to go about business in the usual way. For St. Patrick’s Anglican Church, fundraising is a big part of running operations and supporting the community through outreach. For the last nine years, they have held their immensely popular Jiggs Dinner. Each fall, they would pack a hall, cook up a storm, and enjoy an evening of friendship. Due to COVID restrictions, the annual event could not happen, but that did not stop church members from keeping the spirit alive!

Instead of cancelling it altogether, St. Patrick’s Anglican Church members, along with Rev. Rita Milne, decided to hold an online auction to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the event. The Jiggs Dinner always featured a silent auction, and thanks to a generous community, that was still able to happen. Of course, dealing with the online world for an event generally held in person was tricky but barring a few Facebook glitches, the event went very well. “It was a bit tricky with people being able to see the full dimensions of what the items were, so we tried to provide as much measurement detail with each picture. Facebook’s little quirks were a disadvantage to us sometimes. Still, we tried to monitor the event as closely as possible so that we could respond to any issues people were having,” explained church treasurer, Brenda Keddy.

The changes to Facebook also meant that they could not necessarily reach the same people who attended the in-person dinners. “Unfortunately, a lot of the people that would’ve attended the dinner maybe weren’t Facebook users, so we unable to maybe reach some of the same supporters, but it enabled us to reach out to different groups,” explained Keddy. “It was a new venture for us, and it was a big learning curve, but in the end, we are satisfied with what we were able to do with it.”

After receiving some advice from other groups that had done online auctions, the parish decided to hold three separate auctions, one in September, one in October, and a third in November. “Other groups advised us to keep the number of auction items within a certain number. Doing that enabled us to keep collecting and receiving items rather than have one large auction,” said Wendy Dickin, Rector’s Warden at St. Patrick’s. “I think doing it this way also helped us reach more people and more often because the timeframes were different. Sometimes people aren’t available, but maybe the timing is better next time.”

The combination of the three auctions ended up providing them with nearly equal to what they would have raised during the silent auction at the in-person event. “Our business community here in Whitecourt is very, very generous,” said Keddy. “With the three auctions, we were able to meet about the same number of items and about the same monetary amount we would have at the event, excluding what we would have gotten from providing the dinner as well.”

Both ladies said that the response from those who took part has been very positive. “I think the number one feedback we got back from people was that they wanted to know when the next auction would be. That’s a really good compliment to the whole team of people that worked on this,” said Dickin. She added that they are flirting with the idea of holding another online auction in the spring. Residents are encouraged to join the St. Patrick’s Anglican Church Facebook page to keep up to date on any future fundraisers.

The first auction in September had 45 different auction items. The second and third auctions each offered up 25, which means there were many happy winners once all three wrapped up. “We’re just really overwhelmed by the support of the community and the businesses. As a church, we, too, operate a business, and without support like this, we wouldn’t be able to open our door to the community. I think it’s even more meaningful this year because businesses that have given us support are going through the same struggles and hardships due to the pandemic. We want to give them a heartfelt thank you,” said Keddy.

Even though the event brought a sense of fellowship and friendship, it wasn’t the same as having an in-person dinner. “We heard that people did miss the actual dinner, and they had asked us if we would entertain doing take out, but we wanted to keep everybody COVID safe,” explained Dickin. “Our Anglican guidelines are very strong, so we chose not to go through the process of take-out this time, and we hope that by 2021 we will be able to do the regular, full, in-person event. We miss that interaction with the community!”

The funds raised by the event remain local and go a long way in supporting more than just the church. “It supports our finances here at the church, but it also helps us to be able to do some outreach things here in the community. Right now, we know that the food bank is in need and the soup kitchen is always in need, and the Christmas Hamper too, and we always try to help support those things every year as well, so the funds come in our door but go out to support the community too,” explained Dickin. “It’s a whole parish effort here because everyone donated in some way whether it was an item, their time or monetary. They all give.”

St. Patrick’s Anglican Church members would like to thank everyone for taking part in the auction. Whether you shared a post, bid on an item, or donated an item, they want to thank you for your kindness and generosity. They also wanted to thank the following individuals and businesses for contributing to the Jiggs with a Twist 2020 Fundraiser: ANC, Lynn & Greg Brown, Thelma Bronson, Keri Boyes (Arbonne), Caine’s Jewellers Ltd, Carpetown Interiors, Crystal Glass, Collin Vacuum Trucks, Cultured Stone Studio, Dairy Queen-Whitecourt, Dr. Lori Hodgson (50th Ave. Dental), Family Dental, Kelly Gray (Mama Gray’s Kitchen), Husky/1st Choice Car Wash, John & Leota Heaven, Sandy Lovelace, Zelda Kind, IGA, Metrix Group LLP, Mountain Pizza & Steakhouse, North Country Market, Original Joe’s-Whitecourt, Stone RV Sales & Service, The Cleaning Lady, The Fermented Moose Brewing & Equipment Co., Total Oasis Health & Healing, Whitecourt Vet Clinic, Western Auto & Imports, Whatever Works Crystals, Whitecourt Wolverines, Whitecourt Press, Whitecourt Star, XM 105 FM, and Boom 96.7.