A volunteer group, Project Rescue of Amazon Youth, of Wamego will host a fundraiser from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Nov. 7 in Aggieville.
P.R.A.Y. is a non-profit charity dedicated to providing care and shelter for orphans and children in Brazil.
According to Sister Magdalena, one of the charity’s founders, the shelter for orphans and children needing care is located in the city of Jacunda in the state of Para in Brazil. Another shelter is in the region of Tocantins, Brazil.
According to the charity’s Web site, the children suffer from malnutrition, abandonment, illness and lack of medical care. They have no way to gain life-sustaining skills. A lack of safe drinking water is also a major issue for the children.
“We established P.R.A.Y. in 1998 to provide a shelter for the children that were in need of a home, whether it be temporary or permanent,” said Sister Magdalena. “Oftentimes the children need a place to go because they are neglected and abused. So we provide that care for them, however, the house has a limit of 30 children.”
According to Sister Magdalena, the charity also has a medical clinic located in Jacunda that treats 50-60 people a day.
Sister Magdalena said K-State often sends volunteers to the shelters in Brazil to help out with the children.
“We wanted to raise money in order to maintain the care and upkeep of the shelter. That includes things like food, clothes, and keeping the shelter open,” she said. “We decided to do a fundraiser because we were getting low on funds.”
Sister Magdalena said artwork from the children in the shelter in Jacuda will be on display and for sale. There will be a prize giveaway as well.
One of the prizes at the fundraiser will be a car.
Sister Magdalena said the car has been their biggest donation. The car, a green 1996 Chrystler Cirrus, will be raffled off at the fundraiser. However, the winner will not be announced until Jan. 16 at P.R.A.Y.’s pancake feed.
The winner does not need to be present at the pancake feed to win. All information is available at the fundraiser in Varney’s.
Other prizes will be given away, including a free night’s lodging at a Sheraton Hotel, a $25 gift certificate for Dyer’s Shurfine Foods in Wamego, a pair of prescription sunglasses, a personal tax preparation, candles, a cookbook and a fleece blanket.
Tickets are for sale for $10 each or 15 tickets for $100. Coffee and refreshments will be served.
“We are hoping to raise about $5,000 at the fundraiser on Nov. 7,” Sister Magdalena said. “We really hope that people from K-State come because we would like to continue to add to our relationship with students.”
An internship at a Navajo reservation in Arizona changed her mind, where she witnessed the fading culture of the people as the younger generations moved on to a more modern lifestyle. Inspired to get back to her roots, Vogelsberg-Busch returned to Kansas to become a farmer. She had to prove herself to everyone: her customers, her father and herself.
Life threw her another curveball when her husband divorced her, leaving her as a single mom with three children, a farm to run and a mortgage to pay. Without her husband’s health insurance, Vogelsberg-Busch was forced to take a job at Tension Envelope Corporation in Marysville, a job she still holds today after more than 13 years.
“It’s tough, leaving my kids and cows to go into town to work for health insurance,” she said. “I’m so afraid if something should happen to me they might liquidate. That’s a real fear for me because I can’t afford health insurance by just farming.”
When Vogelsberg-Busch’s father died, her family lost almost everything because he did not have insurance. The cattle were liquidated, and her mother was forced to move into a long-term care home. She said this is a sad reality for many farmers, and at work at the factory, she is surrounded by farmers just like herself.
“I just think it’s a waste,” she said. “I see them adjusting a machine to make an envelope and they should be working on their farm.”
In spite of all the hardships, Vogelsberg-Busch remains optimistic about the future of Bossie’s Best and organic farming in general. She does not have plans to sell outside of the state, in spite of interested people contacting her.
“I’m a strong advocate of not just organic, but local organic,” she said.
Keller agreed with Vogelsberg-Busch.
“Bigger producers with large acreage that have become certified has become a concern for smaller producers,” Keller said. “We really try to emphasize local organic producers.”
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