Nailer the steer and Eva Ketchmark. (Supplied by Kathy Ketchmark)

By David Opinko

Helping the Homeless

Southern Alberta girl donates 4H steer to Lethbridge Soup Kitchen

Aug 13, 2020 | 11:35 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – “I want people to know that, no matter how young or old you are, you can still make a difference in the world.”

Those were the words of Eva Ketchmark, 12, who decided that she wanted to have her 4H steer help those in need.

Living in the Lomond area, she has been part of her local 4H group for about three years now.

They spent the last year raising calves from birth, naming hers Nailer.

“I like that we could choose which ones we wanted and that we could help them because their moms were either really mean to us or mean to them, and so it made me really happy to know that we could help those animals who didn’t have a mom to raise them,” says Ketchmark.

Meaningful Mementos

Remembering Someone You've Lost at Christmas

Dec 03, 2024

Seasonal Sorrow

How Do You Get Through The Holidays When You're Grieving?

Nov 01, 2024

Upcoming Events at Oliver's

Grief & Loss and Estate Planning Seminars

Oct 02, 2024

“It was great because [Nailer] was really nice to me, where, some of my other ones, they were really pushy and shovey but he didn’t really do that.”

Typically, the 4H participants would then take part in a show and sale event where the young cows would be sold. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, that event was cancelled.

They were instead given the choice of what they wanted to do with their steers.

Ketchmark decided to donate hers to the Lethbridge Soup Kitchen.

“We went to a school field trip there and I just had a really amazing experience there and I felt like I belonged helping people.”

Bill Ginther, the Executive Director of the Lethbridge Soup Kitchen, says they received the donated steer late last week.

“I was amazed at the maturity of a young person like that to be able to think that far that, look, I have this young animal and I can’t sell it like we normally do with 4H – I’m going to give it so that I can provide food for the poor. I was quite blown away that someone of that age would have that kind of thinking to think beyond herself.”

The donation amounts to just under 800 lbs of meat, which Ginther estimates will last them around six months.

It will primarily be used for ground beef but also for some steaks and roasts.

He says they have received plenty of donations from children in the past, but he cannot recall a single gift from a youth that was this significant.

(Lethbridge News Now)