Cattle and Grain Round Up
The High River District Health Care Foundation’s Cattle and Grain Round Up program recognizes the well-established support for local health care by the farm and ranch families in High River, Nanton, Blackie and surrounding areas. The Cattle and Grain Round Up program allows for donations to be made in the form of cash, cattle or grain. We partner with the Cargill Blackie Elevator who will be happy to direct any grain donations, and with Southern Alberta Livestock Exchange who will process any donations of cattle. All cash donations will be handled directly through the Foundation. On average the Cattle & Grain Round Up raises around $40,000 each year.
Celebrating 30 Years!!
Celebrating 30 Years!!
This year all NEW donors to the program can double their donation, thanks to long time donor Marlyne Sutherland! Marlyne is matching any new donation to the Round Up, up to $10,000 in total. This is in honour of her late husband Wilson and those who gave life to the program 30 years ago.
Thank You Round Up Founders
Wilson Sutherland
Fred Randle
Harley Earl
Lew Callahan
Richard Newman
History of the Cattle & Grain Round Up
Over two decades ago a group of local farmers and ranchers gathered in Wilf & Gladys Longson’s basement to learn about a unique idea to raise funds for their local hospital through donations of cash, cattle or grain. The idea presented was based on a similar program done in the Red Deer area that focused on donations of cattle. The program was customized to include donations of cattle, grain and cash. Everyone bought in and devised a plan to encourage other local farmers and ranchers to support the program. Fred Randle took an area Municipal District map sectioned if off and each person was designated an area to go out and tell their neighbors and friends about the Cattle and Grain Round Up in support of the High River Hospital. Some of those in the room that day that helped spread the word and get the campaign off the ground were Wilf, Fred, Lew Callahan, Harley Earl & Wilson Sutherland.
For the first 12 years of the program the Foundation partnered with the Chinook Country Cattlemen, a non-profit organization whose mandate was to create awareness and provide education regarding the economic impact of the cattle industry in the Foothills area. Their membership included: ranches, feedlots, individuals and businesses that had a vested interest in the beef industry. Each fall, based on the market a pen of cattle were purchased and they were fed and managed by the host feedlot and sold in the spring with the proceeds from the sale being directed to the funding project. Following the dissolution of the Cattlemen group the program continued by accepting donations of cash, cattle or grain.
The Annual Cattle and Grain Wind Up was held each August to celebrate the Round Up and to thank the donors and host feedlot. A highlight of the evening was a homemade pie auction held to kick off the fundraising for the upcoming year, with pies often selling for hundreds of dollars.
Since 1996 the farm and ranch community has raised over $1.1 million through this unique fundraising initiative. The original group of farmers, like our supporters today, understood the important role of the High River Hospital in our Foothills communities and wanted to secure and improve the healthcare available to all residents in the area.
