Idaho Falls man donates over $8,000 to local charity after four-month fundraiser
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IDAHO FALLS – When Eugene Engmann started his ‘bigger or better’ challenge in August, his goal was to raise $2,500 for the Ronald McDonald Family Room.
Over the course of four months, it became something much bigger. In December, multiple sponsors helped him provide a prize package worth $8,090. Of that, $1,500 was a cash donation and $6,590 was trade for other items.
Teton Auto Group provided a complete car care package and a night at the Museum of Idaho. Teton Adventure Rentals contributed a three-night stay in an RV trailer. Other prizes included $2,000 in advertising for the nonprofit. Additional prizes were provided by Sunnyside Gardens and Romaine’s Mattress King.
The family room team are planning ways to give these items to guests in the coming months.
Deborah Chessey, the organization’s development and community outreach manager, tells EastIdahoNews.com she’s impressed with Engmann’s efforts and amazed with the amount of people who supported his cause.
“He approached us in August to say that he had started this whole process,” Chessey says. “It was unbelievable that he picked us for this and that so many people contributed.”
Engmann launched this fundraiser for the sole purpose of spreading happiness and giving back to the community. And he wanted to do it in a unique way.
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He started with a paper clip and began trading it for bigger or better items.
Though it was a rewarding experience to make this donation, he says it took a lot of work to make it happen.
“The bigger the item gets, the harder it is to trade,” Engmann says. “There were some silent days. There were days I asked myself, ‘Why did I even do this?’ I learned a lot of patience.”
He says the challenge was much bigger than he ever thought it would be because people “are always willing to give to help (those) in need.”
“They agreed to the trade but they didn’t take the item,” he says. “They wanted to add to it. People are just amazing.”
The community’s support has inspired him and he’d love to do another fundraiser again this year, depending on his schedule.
Regardless, Engmann says you don’t have to do something big to make a difference. There’s always someone you can help, he says, and he encourages the community to do its part.
“It could be a smile, it could be anything,” he says. “When you look for an opportunity to help, you will always find it.”
WATCH OUR INTERVIEW WITH ENGMANN IN THE VIDEO ABOVE.
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