We have more heroes to talk about this week and they come from the Trinity Lutheran Church in Freeland. The church sponsors a ‘Learn and Serve’ project that is bringing fresh fish to the Good Cheer Food Bank! The women are taking their lessons seriously and sharing their catch!
Local fishing instructor Jerry Shimek (left) and Kevin Lungren the Fishin’ Club’s Vice President shared their knowledge with fisher-women at a recent class being held at the Lutheran Trinity Church in Freeland. The fisher-women, as a part of the ‘Learn-and-Serve’ class, agreed to donate every second fish caught to Good Cheer Food Bank.
The idea of fresh fish at the food bank is really special; it is such a healthy meal and a real treat for our clients. The TLC Fishinistas are putting out a call to all fishermen/women to donate their extra catches to the food bank. If you are able to donate fish to the food bank please remember that we need to have fresh and not frozen. We have to know the type of fish and the date it was caught . Volunteers will clean the fish if that is something that needs to be done. Vacuum-packed fish are ideal. Any anglers can call the food bank at 360-221-4868 for details.
In honor of the TLC Fishinistas a salmon fishing package of gear and private instruction (a $200 value) is being raffled off at the Harvest Party and Music Fest. The $1 tickets are available at every Good Cheer location.
Ace Hardware has come on board in a big way. They donated fishing gear for the raffle and they encouraged the fishermen/women at the derby to donate their caught fish to the food bank. At last count this could approach 60 fish or about 235 fillets, the fish were pretty good size this year.
Somebody looks pretty happy….and the fish probably ended up at the Good Cheer Food Bank.
Here were the results of the Ace Hardware Fishing Derby:
Adult Division
1st Steve Davis 8.17 lbs Scotty Electric Downrigger
2nd Kim Guthrey 6.76 lbs Stihl Chainsaw
3rd Robert Mills 6.5 lbs Foodsaver and Lil Chief Smoker
Youth Division
1st Taylor Fifield 5.52 lbs Rod, Reel, Tackle Box
2nd Devlin Erickson
3rd Cowan Chriswell 5.31 lbs Rod, Reel, Tackle Box
They sold 211 derby tickets and and earned an estimated $1600 in Scholarship Dollars.
I would be remiss if I didn’t show you a photo on the Youth winner since she is a fisher-woman and that is the crux of this post.
Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime. Teach a woman to fish, and you’ll fill the freezer at the local food bank. “That could be the new saying at Trinity Lutheran Church after the success of its service learning group, the Fishinistas” says Ben Watanabe in his article in the South Whidbey Record. Ben has a great article on the fisher-women and you can read it all by clicking here.
The joy for DeAnn Olson is beyond catching or eating the big one. “The real thrill, other than having a couple meals from the fish I kept, was giving away the others,” Olson said. “I don’t care if I have a freezer full or not. It’s the giving that means something to me.”
This whole story line is about giving and how that spirit can spread! What a great week for the food bank!
Good Cheer!
[...] Most recently, the group was featured on Good Cheer Food Bank’s blog at: http://www.goodcheerblogspot.com/2011/08/22/gone-fishin-for-good-cheer/ [...]
love it…..Trinity has done many things to support “Good Cheer”, but this “tops the list”.. Huge Thank you’s……