"It Takes a Village" Fundraiser for Jeni Clarahan

SIGOURNEY – Over one hundred servings of soup were distributed on Sunday, Nov. 8 during the drive-thru soup supper benefit for Jeni Clarahan and her family.

The affair had originally been planned as an in person event at the Keokuk County Expo which would include a free will donation meal and an on-site, in-person silent auction. With less than a week to go, due to the rising cases of COVID-19 in the area, organizers made the decision to migrate the fundraiser to a drive-thru, freewill donation soup supper and an online silent auction on Facebook. The event planning

team scrambled to get everything rearranged and get the “change of plans” information out to the public. Alley Tish (Marie Grace Photography) and Amanda Snakenberg (Barn Wired) spent countless hours organizing and hosting the affair. As Alley expressed “It takes a village” and the team of volunteers did not disappoint. Jon Baker was the “chief cook” of the chicken noodle, potato, and chili con carne soup choices. The meal also included crackers, cookies, beverages and a huge selection of desserts made and donated by Christina Montgomery, including caramel apple cheesecake, pumpkin bars, cookies and more.

The drive up food line was beautifully managed by Ruth and Philip Manchester, Staci White, Mikayla James, Brooke Waechter and Nash Baker. They did run out of soup but not until the final drive-thru soup order was filled.

The outside tented drive-thru area allowed for all meal orders and meal service to be conducted outside and was laid out and set-up by Gary and Christie Iosbaker, and Wells Clark.

An efficient team of volunteers including Ashley Fry, Mikayla James, Justin Tish and Melinda Wehr helped with set-up and cleanup and to get the auction items to the Expo, labeled, organized, posted online and tallied. The online silent auction was live on Facebook from 5 until 7 p.m. on the dot (Facebook time). Over seventy mini Christmas trees, wreaths, gift baskets and other great items were donated by

individuals and businesses, most of which were local, but with some from as far away as Keosauqua. The selection of items was impressive. For example, Megan Mwangi donated an Iowa Hawkeyes mini tree that sold for $250. The Sigourney-Keota state semi-final bound SK football team donated an SK football helmet that raised $200 for the benefit. A bid of $390 won the basket that included a football signed by the members of the 2020 SK football team and donated by Sieren Family Farms. The winning bid was $200 for a “Gnome place like home” holiday themed basket donated by Isabelle Ireland. Organizers expressed their sincere gratitude to everyone and every business who donated items for the successful auction.

All proceeds from the drive-thru meal and the online silent auction went to Jeni Clarahan and her family as she moves into the next phase of her fight. Jeni was diagnosed in early September this year with an aggressive form of breast cancer. In October she underwent double mastectomy surgery and then the first phase of reconstructive surgery at Mercy Hospital in Iowa City. Since then Jeni went to the

University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics for a second opinion. Their diagnosis and treatment plan aligned with Mercy’s. Jeni will begin intensive chemotherapy on Nov. 17 at Mercy. As she expressed last week “I’m ready to get things rolling!”