'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
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
LIVE SOON Honda expected to announce Ontario EV battery plant, part of a $15B investment
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Honda executives are expected to announce today that the Japanese automaker is building an electric vehicle battery plant in Alliston, Ont., part of a $15-billion investment.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Metro Vancouver mayors call for serial killer Robert Pickton to be denied parole
A dozen mayors from around Metro Vancouver say federal Attorney General and Justice Minister Arif Virani should deny parole for notorious B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton, and reassess the parole and sentencing system for 'prolific offenders and mass murderers.'