The Estevan branch of Royal Canadian Legion continued supporting the community throughout the lockdown times.
Even though it wasn’t easy on them and all their fundraising activities were put on pause for about four months, they still did their part providing about $7,500 in donations.
“It’s been a very difficult time. We cannot open our hall and we are not able to have any hall rentals … And at the same time, we were trying to help the community,” said Estevan legion president Jim (Frosty) Forrest.
A lot of their income comes from hall rentals and bingos, so revenues were certainly low and pretty much nonexistent due to the pandemic-related regulations. The poppy campaign they had last year helped them to support various causes that assist veterans.
Despite the challenges, the Estevan legion also provided their traditional bursaries to six graduating students.
“We always try to support graduates. We give six bursaries, $1,000 each, for graduating students. We are still able to do that,” said Forrest.
Each student applicant had to send in a profile about themselves, explaining their connection to veterans. They also had to include references from one of the teachers and from someone in the community. The legion formed a committee of four people that evaluated and scored applications. They had about 12 applications this year.
“It was a very tough decision. It was a good crop of kids coming up from our school this year… The scores, when we were done, were fairly close,” said Forrest.
Jonah Bachorcik, Joren Dryden, Darson Gannlaugson, James Knibbs, Zachary Schmidt and Jacob Wade were chosen to receive this year’s bursaries.
The legion hall and their bar are still closed since recreational activities they offer and bigger gatherings are still restricted by the provincial government. But Forrest said they are ready to open as soon as they have the green light.
In the meantime, the Estevan legion started their fourth truck raffle, which is their biggest fundraiser of the year. And it seems that this year it may turn into a bit of a challenge.
“It’s going to be more difficult to do it well this year simply because there are no car shows, and (other events) where we sell our tickets. It’s going to be a lot tougher,” said Forrest.
But they still believe that with the community support they will be able to run it successfully to keep meeting their goal of helping people in and around Estevan.
There will be only 1,500 tickets available, which can be purchased at Murray GM, at the legion or via e-transfer to truck.raffle@sasktel.net (include name and phone number in notes). The draw will take place on Dec. 31.
The grand prize is a 2020 Chevrolet Silverado, valued at over $55,000. The second prize is $10,000 cash and the third lucky ticket holder will claim a $5,000 cash prize. The five early bird winners will take home $1,000 cash each on Sept. 5.
“Our community support is dependent on the support we are getting from the community as well,” said Forrest. “We are going forward and we are always looking for ways to keep ourselves going to help out the community. That’s our motto, to help our veterans, the families of veterans…
“Please support our truck raffle and help the legion keep doing the good work we do.”
Forrest added that as soon as they are able to start renting the hall and allow patrons to use pool tables and shuffleboards and run bingos again, they will reopen their doors to the public, while ensuring that everybody is staying safe.
“We also want to make sure that we are operating safely where people aren’t getting sick.”
No date was set yet as to when the legion will get back to their routine.
