Vintage vehicles and families came together to support a good cause at a local community space.

On Saturday, June 13, Sweetgrass by Optima Living hosted its fourth annual classic car show in Slave Lake. The event featured about 20 classic cars from all across Alberta. Ray Stern and the car club organized the vehicle display, while Sweetgrass provided the venue and atmosphere.

By partnering with Mr. Mike’s to sell burgers for $5 and hot dogs for $2, the venue raised $782 this year to support the Native Friendship Centre. The show officially kicks off Optimal Living’s month-long food bank drive, which runs across all of its sites until July 6.

Samantha Ganz, general manager of Sweetgrass by Optima Living, says she is happy to see the event grow.

“Every year it seems to be getting bigger and better, so that’s nice,” Ganz says. “Our goal every year for Sweetgrass is to raise more for the Native Friendship Centre and the food bank.”

Organizers track their success by converting cash donations into pounds, treating each dollar as one pound of food. During the first year of the show, they collected just 70 pounds.

Last year, the event brought in 1,000 pounds, which included mostly food donations alongside at least $500 in cash. This year, the goal is to reach at least 1,500 pounds in total.

To bring the whole family out, the venue expanded the event to run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and added new activities. In previous years, they simply offered a hot dog to anyone who brought a food bank item.

“This year what was a bit different was we also incorporated some games and some face painting and glitter tattoos for the kids, so it was more of a family-wide event,” Ganz says.

Ganz adds that a large crowd came out to enjoy the new additions, making the day a great success.

Armaan Khanna 

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter