'A feel-good thing': Winnipeg couple’s popular wood pallet snowmen fundraiser back again
A Winnipeg couple who transform unassuming wooden pallets with a little holiday magic is back to raise more money for local charities, one snowman at a time.
Val Ruth and Blaine Wall started creating snowmen out of recycled pallets in the throes of the pandemic in 2020. They decided to sell them and donate the proceeds to charity.
“It was something for us to do, and it turned out to be more popular than we thought it would be,” recalled Ruth in an interview with CTV News Winnipeg.
In the first year, the couple sold about 150 snowmen.
Blown away by the success, they broke out their saw and paintbrushes again in 2021. That year, they sold about 300, donating around $7,600 to a number of local charities and shelters.
This year, they hope to surpass that and have set a $10,000 fundraising goal.
“We’ve made over 300 so far and I still have some time to make more if they start to sell,” Wall said.
Selling for $30 a pop, the snowmen are a joint effort by the pair. Together, they have to find the used pallets, cut them, clean them, and then paint and decorate them.
It’s a process the duo has refined over the years.
“We've become more efficient, and I started in the summer which made a hell of a difference on how it worked,” Wall explained.
The couple says the snowmen are their way of giving back, as they would not be able to donate this amount of money alone.
“We've helped a lot of people with it, and people seem to have appreciated when we've donated to them. Mostly we pick smaller places to send it because they get less, they're unnoticed or not even known about. It's a feel-good thing,” Ruth said.
The snowmen can be purchased by email.
- With files from CTV’s Scott Andersson
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'It could be catastrophic': Woman says natural supplement contained hidden painkiller drug
A Manitoba woman thought she found a miracle natural supplement, but said a hidden ingredient wreaked havoc on her health.
After hearing thousands of last words, this hospital chaplain has advice for the living
Hospital chaplain J.S. Park opens up about death, grief and hearing thousands of last words, and shares his advice for the living.
WHO likely to issue wider alert on contaminated cough syrup
The World Health Organization is likely to issue a wider warning about contaminated Johnson and Johnson-made children's cough syrup found in Nigeria last week, it said in an email.
WATCH Video shows dramatic police takedown of carjacking suspects chased through parking lot north of Toronto
Police have released video footage of a dramatic takedown of a group of teens wanted in connection with an attempted carjacking in Markham earlier this month.
Canada, G7 urge 'all parties' to de-escalate in growing Mideast conflict
Canada called for 'all parties' to de-escalate rising tensions in the Mideast following an apparent Israeli drone attack against Iran overnight.
'It was all my savings': Ontario woman loses $15K to fake Walmart job scam
A woman who recently moved to Canada from India was searching for a job when she got caught in an online job scam and lost $15,000.
Families to receive Canada Child Benefit payment on Friday
More money will land in the pockets of some Canadian families on Friday for the latest Canada Child Benefit installment.
After COVID, WHO defines disease spread 'through air'
The World Health Organization and around 500 experts have agreed for the first time on what it means for a disease to spread through the air, in a bid to avoid the confusion early in the COVID-19 pandemic that some scientists have said cost lives.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.