WEST HAVEN, Utah — Fall festivals have officially started all across Utah, but one community relies heavily on theirs.
Saint Mary’s Catholic Church in West Haven hosted its biggest fundraiser on Saturday, and organizer Jennifer Streker said it is imperative to keep the church going.
“We have a lot of things around our church that need work. We've been here at this site for quite a while, and there's things that are breaking or just need to be redone,” she said.
But the fundraiser also brings a deeper purpose.
“After COVID, there wasn't a whole lot of connection with the community and the school, and so we're trying to bring that back,” said Yolanda Candelaria, the booster president for St. Joseph High School. "Festivals like this, where we can all connect and have a foundation to do that."
Yolanda said it’s a way parents can participate with their kids.
Her son, Dylan, shared why it was important for him to be at the fundraiser.
“So we could do fundraising for the St Joseph's High School athletics teams,” Dylan said.
Jesse Ricardez recently became a deacon for the church and said it’s also an opportunity for people of all backgrounds to come together and meet one another.
“We have a Spanish-speaking community and the English-speaking community, and so that's the main thing of the festival. I mean, it raises money for our church, and that's really good, but really it’s building community,” he said.
At the end of the day, parishioners told FOX 13 News that their goal is to be able to grow together as a community.
“It's just so nice seeing everybody here, and even if they don't know anybody, they just still would like to check it out. Then they see it and they tell other people, so then it just helps us grow and grow,” said parishioner Loki Gutierrez.
