Verna Hackert, Dee Vander Wilt, Michelle Van Zante, Max Morvant, Steph Ramer, and Tyke Vander Wilt, along with many other family and friend volunteers, stepped up alongside Jamie and Robin Hackert for Taco Tuesday, a Serenity Haven fundraiser during the month of October.
A heartfelt desire, not only for their own family member but for additional special-needs adults to live in a modern and handicap-accessible group home in Sully, propelled Jamie and Robin Hackert of Lynnville to launch Serenity Haven last spring. The non-profit’s initial event, Race for Ace on May 31, kicked off the fundraising with $21,000 raised. Knowing more funds were needed to keep the mission alive, the Hackerts launched Taco Tuesday. Every Tuesday during the month of October, the Hackerts and a deep list of volunteers started taking orders at 3 p.m. and prepared and served delicious deep-fried tacos from 5-8 p.m. from Robin’s mother’s home centrally located in Sully. And taco ’bout community support – the orders poured in and supportive community members donated well over the asking price for each taco. The Hackerts were overwhelmed by the outpouring of support. Once all proceeds were tallied following Oct. 28’s final Taco Tuesday, Jamie and Robin report Taco Tuesday raised $25,877.
“As far as community support goes, we are blown away!” said Jamie and Robin following the final night of the fundraiser. “The suggested price for a taco was $8. The amount we received made the tacos $15.41. We left Grandma Dee’s the last night and cried. This community is to amazing and so giving. We don’t know what to say other than thank you for believing in this process! This home will provide an amazing place for special needs people to live and prosper.”
There are many facets to the success of October’s Taco Tuesday. Robin’s extensive food service background as a previous restaurant owner and the tried-and-true recipe for deep-fried taco shells she inherited from former Lynnville Cafe owners Dale and Bert Schnell was pivotal to the launch of the fundraiser. Robin’s mother, Dee Vander Wilt, opened up her home, which served as Taco Tuesday’s headquarters the month of October. “Her garage still smells like a deep fryer, but that’s not the worst smell in the world,” joked the Hackerts.
The Hackerts are deeply grateful for their family and friends who volunteered countless hours to make the fundraiser a success. “This doesn’t happen without the support of our dedicated friends and family who donated their time and effort every Tuesday.” The Hackerts also give thanks to La Rose Marie Bakery and Prime Country BBQ who graciously used their supplier connections to obtain the necessary ingredients for the tacos. Prime Country also gave free use of their industrial mixer and kitchen for the Hackerts to prep the dough for the delectable tacos.
Every week, the Hackerts and their faithful troupe of volunteers prepped the day of and day before Taco Tuesdays, which required making 80-plus pounds of taco meat and 20-plus batches of dough, and dicing 70-plus tomatoes and 30-plus onions. Grocery runs were made every week along with getting supplies through La Rose Marie Bakery and Prime Country. The first Taco Tuesday on Oct. 8 brought in 310 taco orders. The number of orders grew each week with the final Taco Tuesday on Oct. 28 drawing approximately 450 orders. Every volunteer had a specific job on Tuesday afternoons and evenings with a mindset of adaptation to help fill in the gaps when “things got crazy,” said Robin. “We had no idea the volume we needed to attain. We had to increase the number of volunteers and the number of fryers to help make tacos.”
A total of 1,673 tacos were ordered, made, served, and devoured with each tasty bite moving Serenity Haven one step closer to reality. Serenity Haven has raised nearly $47,000 in two fundraisers over the course of five short months. While a final number has not been determined, the Hackerts hope they will have the needed funds to break ground for the handicap-accessible group home in 2028. A building site has been chosen along with North Ridge Estates/Tim Dunsbergen as the contractor.
