Submitted by Nelson Italian-Canadian Society
They say that the way to a person’s heart is through their stomach. And for the Nelson Italian-Canadian Society (NICS), this little bit of wisdom has once again translated to another successful fundraising event.
On Dec. 4 and 5, following in the footsteps of two previous successful fundraising events, the society held its final fundraiser for 2020. They cooked up nearly 400 litres of authentic Italian spaghetti sauce and sold out online in a mere five days.
Initial orders demanded 310 litres of spaghetti sauce. But when cooking for large events, they always prepare more than the exact number of servings. In the end, the society cooked up 370 litres with the extra 60 litres being quickly snapped up by people who were on a waiting list.
Over the years, the NICS has built a reputation in Nelson by hosting many successful banquets that showcased their members’ culinary skills and their commitment to supporting local charitable causes. However, this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the society was unable to continue their traditional wine festival and Christmas dinner banquet, instead offering up their famous spaghetti sauce to the residents of Nelson via online sales.
Paul Boscariol, NICS president, was thrilled with the success of the spaghetti sauce event.
“Over its 48-year history, we’ve earned the reputation of providing great food at our fundraising events. This sauce fundraiser was just another example of this. I’m certain that we had quite a few customers cooking pasta on Saturday night and smothering it with our freshly made sauce.”
The funds generated by the sausage making fundraiser, the wine grape and wine juice fundraiser and the spaghetti sauce fundraiser have been allocated to a range of local causes. NICS donation recipients for 2020 include two student scholarships at LV Rogers Secondary School, the Variety Club Telethon, the Royal Canadian Legion Wreath campaign, Kootenay Lake Hospital Foundation, KidSport Nelson, Trafalgar Breakfast Club and the Nelson Community Food Centre.
Despite all the challenges posed by the restrictions due to the COVID pandemic, the society was delighted to be able to successfully continue its fundraising to meet its donation commitments within the community.
The NICS will be meeting via Zoom early in the new year to lay out the group’s plan for 2021. They intend to repeat this year’s events and encourage everyone to stay connected to them for their 2021 sausage, wine grapes/juice and spaghetti sauce fundraisers. Details will be available on the NICS Facebook page: @NelsonItalianCanadianSociety.
