By Robbi Longbrake
BELLE FOURCHE—In a show of support for area youth, the 6th Annual Pitchfork Fondue for Youth Fundraiser attracted over 220 people on Saturday evening, July 27 at the Roundup grounds. They enjoyed a fresh cooked steak with all the fixings, live music by Eclectic Wreck and the company of good neighbors.
Redwater Youth Leadership Fund, a nonprofit organization, was founded seven years ago by a group of 4-H moms and grandmothers. According to Holly Main, Event Coordinator, they “were disappointed that our kids didn’t get the national trips as awards anymore.” If the local kids wanted to go on any of the national trips, they had to pay for the trip costs themselves. “We thought that it was a good time to start an event for people that appreciated kids that are striving to be good leaders,” she continued.
The event has grown significantly over the years, with the addition of the FFA Alumni Association. “Last year was our first year including the FFA Alumni Association. Those adults have helped build this event to where it is,” said Main.
In the past the Pitchfork Fondue for Youth was held during the Butte Lawrence County Fair and was limited to around 150 people, because that is all the available space it could hold. Main explained, “we had outgrown it. There were a lot of people that wanted tickets that we had to just (turn away), we needed to move to a bigger spot.” The event moved from the Butte County Fairgrounds to a larger area; now it’s held at Roundup grounds. In the new location they are able to offer 250 tickets.
Despite increasing costs, the group has managed to keep ticket prices reasonable while still raising a significant amount of money for the kids. “So meat costs have gone up a fair bit, that was why we did have to raise the cost of the tickets a little bit,” said Main. A large portion of each ticket goes back to the kids. “We don’t have a silent auction. We don’t have a live auction. So we want people to just come and be able to relax and have a good steak dinner and know that about 70% of the cost of their ticket is pure, going back into the kids,” said Main.
Some of the opportunities local kids have been able to attend because of this organization’s efforts include Washington Leadership Conference, National FFA Convention, National 4-H Shooting Sports, as well as college scholarships. All proceeds go towards leadership opportunities and scholarships for Butte and Lawrence county youth. If you have a local youth looking for some help to attend a leadership opportunity, “you can call any one of us, they’re happy to send out the applications to anybody that’s looking to do a state or national leadership opportunity,” said Main. The FFA advisors also have that information and applications can be found on the Butte/Lawrence County 4-H website.
