Just like every junior hockey team around Canada, the budget to run the club every year is increasing each season. That's no different for the Swan Valley Stampeders. Whether it be for equipment, ice rentals, road trips, and everything in between, the cost to run each year is going up.
To help their costs each year, the Stampeders run a few fundraisers, one of which is their Ag Project. They've been doing it for about 16 years and this year's crop has been harvested. Merv Beasley is the coordinator and he shares how it went.
"This year we had a really good year, we grew canola on 147 acres," said Beasley. "We have the land just south of Swan River so it's an ideal location. We're going to net pretty close to $50,000 this year."
"It seems that when we grow canola, we have a much better bottom line," he continued. "When we've grown wheat in the past, the revenue just isn't there. We still have good crops, but it just seems that we just do much better when we do canola."
Most of the seed has been donated throughout the years to help the club.
Without their annual ag project, things would be a lot tougher for the team.
"The team would be in a lot more trouble financially if we didn't do this. The team averages about $40,000 per year," concluded Beasley. "We've raised close to or more than $750,000 throughout the past. It's a major fundraiser, absolutely."
Swan Valley also runs their Christmas raffle which is their second-biggest.