Once again it’s time to turn baked goods into goats.
Coming up this Saturday, Feb. 10 is the Fourth Annual Goods for Goats silent bake auction to be held at the Mall at Piccadilly from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.
Destaney Dean, 15, has been raising funds since she was 11 to buy goats for low-income countries through the Me to We campaign, whose name has been reduced to the We campaign.
So far the community has chipped in enough for the purchase of 24 goats, all going to families in need.
Destaney says she asks local businesses to donate a baked good of their choice.
“I write up a letter and I drop it off to grocery stores, bakeries, cafes, even some pet stores,” she explains. “They usually call me back, and they want to donate a pie, or a couple of gift baskets, or a cake if it’s a grocery store.”
She says she can only do it with businesses with a commercial kitchen or who sell packaged food.
The donated item then goes into the silent auction at the mall, “and every $50 buys a goat.”
She says RBC is partnered with We, which distributes the funds to whichever country is in most need at the time.
Cash donations are also welcome.
“Every year I’ve had one person come up and say: ‘I read your name in the newspaper’ or ‘I your heard your name. It’s nice to see youth doing this. I want to buy a goat.’”
Destaney explains she’s been fundraising her whole life, helping her mom with her projects – for homeless animals at Christmas and, once in Alberta, for a half-million dollar all-inclusive playground for her elementary school.
A trip to We Day, where Destaney got to speak to a crowd of 20,000, inspired her even more.
“It compelled me to try to help more people. I’ve always been in leadership roles so I’ve seen the difference I could make.”
She says she loves having something to look forward to. “Instead of receiving things, you can give things.”