‘Crop Committee’ grows cancer fundraiser each year

Holli Naatz often jokes that she is a traitor.

Now living in rural Blooming Prairie, she is a native of northern Iowa.

“This is home,” she said, standing in the Carpenter (Iowa) Community Center.

Naatz is one of four organizers of “Crop for the Cure,” a weekend for scrapbookers and card-makers to gather to make their crafts – and a difference.

The annual event, held the second weekend in November, just marked its 18^th year of raising money for cancer research.

Over the years, the event has raised more than $168,000 for the Lyle Area Cancer organization through registration fees, table sponsors and “merch” sales, including T-shirts and tote bags that feature a different theme each year.

The silent auction, with more than 100 items, brings in the lion’s share of the money. There are drawings for prizes and a garage sale, too.

“People can bring their unwanted scrapbook stuff, and other people buy it at garage sale prices,” said Jill Patterson, of St. Ansgar, Iowa. Items sell at deep discounts compared to new supplies.

She and Jodi Attig, of Glenville, started the fundraiser in 2008.

“We were sitting at the cancer auction in Lyle, and they were talking about all the fundraisers they have throughout the year,” Attig said. “We both have parents that passed away from cancer, and we just looked at each other … and said, ‘we need to do something.’”

They had both scrapbooked “forever,” she said, “so we thought, well, let’s just start a little scrapbooking event and see what comes of it.”

The largest event was their first year, surprising them both.

“We just figured we would try it and see how many people we could get,” Patterson said. “We were hoping for 20.”

More than 80 scrapbookers showed up. Now, they come from as far away as St. Cloud and Minneapolis; La Crosse, Wis.; and Charles City, Iowa, for the three-day event.

“We don’t have overnight facilities” in Carpenter, population 92, said Patterson. “But we’re here until midnight, and everybody either drives home or stays with friends or goes to the casino.”

Crafting runs from noon to 10 p.m. Friday; 9 a.m. to midnight Saturday; and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. The registration fee depends on how many days they attend.

The fee includes a table to themselves and all meals, provided by a kitchen crew.

There are scrapbooks, of course, documenting the last 17 years, put together by Patterson. Quilts hang on the walls, made of the first 10 years of T-shirts.

A long table nearly sags under the weight of snacks, all brought in by the scrapbookers and shared with everyone.

Along with a new theme, there are unique games and contests each year.

Joining Attig, Patterson and Naatz is Amanda Barker, of Austin.

“The four of us put our minds together, and we come up with different ideas,” Attig said. “We toss ideas around, and then we just come up with whatever.”

That “whatever” raised $20,000 last year; the annual goal is just to beat the previous year’s total.

“It hasn’t always happened, but it’s pretty close,” Patterson said. “Our numbers have fluctuated anywhere from 40 people up to 80.”

“It’s a lot of work, but it’s rewarding,” said Attig, who lost her husband, John, to cancer four years ago. With the history of cancer in their families, the organizers say they feel called.

“I used to be involved in a lot of fundraising organizations,” said Naatz, who was also a 4-H leader for 15 years.

“After my kids graduated, I was like, ‘now what?’”

Between the BP American Legion, where she serves as commander, and the scrapbooking fundraiser, “it fills the void,” she said. “Those are my things to fill that volunteer piece. Before, it was always stuff for my kids, now I get to do it.”

Still, Naatz smiled, “I feel like a traitor, because I’m not part of the Blooming Prairie (cancer group), but this is where my heart is, too – and I feel like we’re all coming together for the same thing.

“They joke about it with me, just like they pick on me for being from Iowa.”