The sweetest fundraiser of the year is happening this week. The Big Butter Tart Bake for Cystic Fibrosis is in full swing, with more than 10,000 tarts being produced just yesterday alone at McKenna Hall.

The amazing aroma currently filling the McKenna is due to the dedication of volunteers baking and packaging butter tarts by the dozen.

“This is our fifth year doing it, and for sure, after today we’ve baked over 75,000 tarts in five years,” said Organizer Mike Weger. “Pretty much, with donations from the community, to help with the costs of the tarts and the supplies, every tart we sell for a dollar, a dollar goes to Cystic Fibrosis Canada.”

He said he got the idea for the fundraiser from a mother of a girl with CF in Saskatoon, and he decided the idea would work in Weyburn at the holiday season.

For Mike and Cara Weger, whose daughter Teresa was diagnosed with CF as a young child, the butter tarts are truly a labour of love, with an added dash of efficiency.

“Basically, when I mix a batch of butter tart mix, we can do 300 tarts per batch. So I just amped up the ingredients, so it’s a little quicker to make every batch,” Weger explained. “But every batch is mixed by hand. I’d say 99 per cent of every order is mixed by myself.”

The butter tarts are all plain, which makes them a guaranteed crowd-pleaser.

“When we’re baking butter tarts on this scale, it’s too much to try to put raisins in some and nuts in some others,” he explained. “We’ve had requests, but at this point, we’re just keeping it simple with the good old fashioned butter tart, the homemade butter tart.”

Weger said sponsors for the fundraiser include Streamline Oilfield, Parr Contracting, Precision Ag and Boston Pizza. One thousand dozen tart shells were donated directly from Costco’s supplier.

The tarts are packaged in pizza boxes, with 25 tarts in a 15” pizza box selling for $25.

“We’re going to bake until Saturday,” Weger said.

He added they do prefer advance orders, but they have been selling tarts to people who have shown up in purchase to purchase them.

To stay in the loop for next year's event, follow the Big Butter Tart Bake for CF page on Facebook. 

Volunteers working to fill pizza boxes with butter tarts at McKenna Hall on Tuesday (photo by Marna McManus).

The tarts for the Big Butter Tart Bake for Cystic Fibrosis are plain with no nuts or raisins, making them suitable for any function during the holidays (photo by Marna McManus).