John Monaghan and his crew of 19 volunteers have been running a charity barbecue for last five years.
The funds raised from the barbeque help maintain and improve their neighbourhood cemetery in Garson.
Like usual Monaghan was busy attending to tasks at the barbecue, such as accepting donations, talking to old and new friends alike.
“I am just a guy who cares; we care about our neighbourhood and the people who have left us behind,” Monaghan said.
Every year this group of men spend many an hour ensuring St. John Cemetery is green and trim, a fitting place for the many loved ones who've gone to their final resting place there. The annual barbecue is a garden party of sorts where the men can cash in some of their community goodwill with a barbecue to raise much-needed operating funds. But the cemetery improvement group also uses the occasion to raise funds for other worthy causes.
Monaghan first started working in the cemetery in the 1980s.
“I enjoyed a day full of work, and this cemetery gave me just that,” Monaghan said.
Almost a decade later Monaghan and his team of volunteers have installed fences, brought in irrigation and upgraded all of its buildings.
“Things eventually got better, we started getting a lot of support for the community, and now we just work to maintain it,” Monaghan said.
The community support has been instrumental in the upkeep of the cemetery, he said. In fact, this year the barbecue will help support Maison McCulloch Hospice Society and its expansion plans.
“We get a lot of support form the community, and this year we decided to donate almost all of the money to support the hospice expansion,” Monaghan said.
Each year the charity barbecue raises up to $5,700, and Monaghan hopes this year will be no different.
This year the group of volunteers also added a celebration of life to help remember a friend whose life was claimed in an accident in Garson on June 11. As per family’s request, the name of the victim has been withheld.
“We miss our friend, and we just wanted to provide the family with some comfort,” Monaghan said
