Regina couple opens doors for Souls Harbour Rescue Mission Chili Fundraiser

A Regina couple will host the third annual Souls Harbour Rescue Mission Chili Fundraiser. This file photo shows fundraiser guests at the same event in 2007.
Photograph by: Roy Antal, Leader-Post files

Leader-Post
Anne Kyle

REGINA — On Tuesday, guests will converge on Karl Fix and Sandi Beug's backyard where, for $100, they will dine on homecooked chili and listen to music performed by a dozen of Saskatchewan's leading musicians.

This is the third annual Souls Harbour Rescue Mission Chili Fundraiser where the Regina couple open their doors and Reginans open their wallets to help some of the city's less fortunate.

"Quite a few years ago, maybe four years ago, I had someone very close to me who went off the rails. I couldn't help her by giving her money directly, but I could see that she was the type of person who might end up utilizing the Souls Harbour facility,'' Beug said.

"And my husband Karl likes to entertain. He likes to throw parties ,so I approached him with the idea that we have a party and ask everyone to donate $50 and the proceeds from the party would go to Souls Harbour.''

Beug said they tried to figure out what would be the most economical thing to serve because initially they were going to be paying for everything and so they came upon the idea of serving chili.

The idea took off and soon businesses were donating all the fixings for the soiree and musicians were offering to entertain for free.

The couple also park an old half-ton truck on their driveway and collect non-perishable food items, diapers and canned food for the soup kitchen. This year guests are asked to bring pasta items to fill the truck.

While the food and drinks are donated by various corporate sponsors, Beug donates her time and sweat equity spending a day in the kitchen cooking up 300 portions of gourmet chili. Her staff at her dental clinic also volunteer their time serving up the food on the day of the party.

"We had gone on occasion to help out at the (Souls Harbour soup kitchen) but because of our work schedules it is difficult to make a regular commitment. We wanted to give something back to the community,'' Fix said.

Historically, summer is not a peak time for donations, so the money and food items collected on Tuesday will be greatly appreciated by Souls Harbour, which provides over 100,000 meals a year, said Joe Miller, assistant director at Souls Harbour. "That's a lot of food.''

When Beug proposed the idea of a backyard party, Fix said he thought it would be a great fundraiser and a lot of fun.

"The first one was three years ago. It was a great success. We had about 250 people out. We never expected that,'' he said, explaining last year they raised $25,000.

This year 250 tickets are being sold to the backyard party which runs from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Tickets are available at Eastend Dental, 2069 Park St., until 4 p.m. Tuesday. Tax receipts are issued for the entire $100 ticket price.