INNISFAIL – For the second year in a row the Innisfail and District Food Bank will have a huge early year boost of fortunes for the area's vulnerable through the success of the 2nd annual Spirited Support Whisky Tasting and Food Bank fundraiser.
The event on Jan. 31 at the Innisfail Library/Learning Centre was organized by The Blair Team – RE/MAX Real Estate Central Alberta, and featured the tasting of a full array of top-quality spirits from the best local and regional distilleries.
Most importantly, it was an event to help the vulnerable, and it was a sell out with all 102 tickets sold at $75 each.
Darcy Blair, associate broker at The Blair Team, said 100 per cent of event profits, which include monies from total ticket sales, close to 30 sponsorships and a live auction, will go directly to the local food bank.
Blair noted that in 2024 the event sold 54 tickets and raised just under $4,000 but with almost twice the tickets sold for the 2025 fundraiser he estimated about $8,500 will be tallied.
“We doubled it, yes,” said Blair, adding final fundraising figures will be confirmed later this month.
Heather Taylor, co-coordinator of the Innisfail and District Food Bank, could not be happier as her agency is always be grateful for community support.
“We've had an awesome season so far, and this just will cap it all off,” said Taylor of the event. “The stock is still pretty good, but within a couple of months we will be purchasing more and more.
“They just do an awesome job. I can't say enough about The Blair Team as far as sponsors."
The fundraising event, emceed by Joe Whitbread of Joe Social Media, was designed to be a fun and informative evening on the art and science of fermentation and distillation to create the best tasting spirits.
And it started by giving each guest a third of an ounce of whisky.
“The distillers will be talking about how to experience it correctly, what to taste, what to smell, what the whisky is all about,” said Blair. “Each whisky is so different, depending on what barrel it was produced in, what the char of the barrel is and the different malting.”
The line-up of spirits for the second annual fundraiser featured eight different brands from distilleries in Calgary, Red Deer, Red Deer County, and Innisfail’s Silver Devil Distillery.
Calgary’s Bridgeland Distillery offered a taste of Innisfail Whisky.
“We can't sell any of the alcohol but we do have Dark Woods Brewing here, and we're really happy they can help us with that,” said Blair, adding the event also offered guests special culinary snacks and treats. “We have food donations from Sylvan Star Cheese and No Frills in Innisfail.”
Following the spirits’ tastings there was the live auction, and there were generous and interesting offerings from the community, including a $900 diamond ring from Innisfail’s Ingham Jewellers and a couple of bottles of scotch worth well over $200.
However, most importantly the evening was about the cause, which The Blair Team has always embraced for the town.
“We've always been big supporters of the Innisfail food bank, but we felt there was just a need to put more money in their pocket so they can buy the right food they need for the clients that are coming in that need it,” said Blair, noting his wife and realty partner Nicole is a fifth generation Innisfailian.
“We know the need. We know this community. We love this community, and we just want to see that no one goes hungry.”
