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Before they organized a fundraiser for the victims of the Mill Street fire, few people in Neepawa probably even knew that there was a table tennis club in town. The group started meeting just this past summer, organising themselves through a Facebook group and meeting in various locations around town. The Filipino community in the area also began running general sports days over the summer, which provided another opportunity for players to find one another within the local area.

It was with that community spirit that the group came together to raise funds for the families who lost everything when a rooming house in town burned down earlier this month. When they reached out for a location to hold their event, that was when they partnered with Harris Lowe of the local Junior Rifle Club, who also had a personal connection to the fire as he owns the property right next door. It may seem like an unlikely pairing but as Lowe says, “You never know who’s going to help you out in your time of need.”

Neepawa Junior RIfle Club has been active since the 1960s. Firearms have a bad reputation due to people using them in the wrong ways, says Lowe, but the club focuses on safe firearm handling. In a rural area such as Neepawa, young people are often involved in hunting, and the junior rifle club helps them not only learn safe handling but also earn their Manitoba Hunter Education Certification. When the building isn’t being used for club purposes, the location has been used for such events as local art shows, town fair activities, and fundraisers such as this.
 
The rifle club building didn’t just accommodate the local players but allowed them to draw participants from as far away as Killarney, an hour and a half drive from town, who wanted to help those families as well. As the organisers put it, they’re “not only having fun playing table tennis but also promoting a simple act of kindness, giving back to our community.”

Other fundraisers for the families include Zumba for a Cause, Darts for a Cause, and an upcoming raffle for gift cards donated by local businesses.