The United Way Estevan’s board of directors is about to begin preparations for its upcoming telethon.
The board’s first weekly meeting will take place on Wednesday night. Those gatherings will continue every Wednesday until the 41st annual telethon on Oct. 27 and 28 at the Royal Canadian Legion’s Estevan branch. The entire 33-hour event will be broadcast live on Access Communications.
The goal for this year’s broadcast is $325,000, which is the same goal the United Way had last year when it raised $372,394. Fisher said the United Way’s board decided to keep the same goal as last year because of the state of the economy.
Proceeds of the telethon will be directed to the United Way’s 15 member agencies and two community partners.
“Setting the goal this year was a very interesting process,” Fisher told the Mercury. “Talking to a lot of the member agencies, some of the grants have been reduced, obviously through provincial budgets and changes to the economy and stuff like that.”
Last year’s telethon was a phenomenal year, Fisher said, but a lot of people are still facing tough times.
“We want to make sure our goal is realistic, and we want to make sure we can give member agencies as much as they need, but in the end, we felt that keeping the same goal was the most realistic and attainable option, while making sure that the goal supplied our member agencies with money that they need to continue the work that they do in Estevan,” he said.
Not only have the needs of the member agencies gone up, but they have more people accessing their services. During the tough economic times, Fisher said people turn to the member agencies for support.
The theme will be “United through Adversity.”
“With the member agencies, all of their clientele are dealing with their own kinds of adversity, and whether that is because of the economy, or whether that is … because they need counselling or support in some way, all our member agencies and us as a board are trying to unite people through adversity and overcome it.”
People can support the telethon by making a pledge, or by contributing in other ways. One of them is entertainment. The entertainment committee has already started to contact potential performers for the telethon. Some will play one or two songs, and others will be on stage for an extended period of time.
School students typically perform during the first few hours of the telethon, and then people from the community fill the entertainment schedule for the remainder of the show.
“We’ve been really fortunate in the past to have, if anything, an overfilled schedule where sometimes we wind up a little bit behind,” said Fisher. “So we always make sure that everyone gets a chance to perform and show off their talents.”
The United Way will also need volunteers in other capacities, such as operating cameras, answering phones, working the sound board and handling other behind the scenes tasks.
“It’s a really good way to experience the telethon, and you get to meet a lot of the board members and a lot of other members of the community,” said Fisher.
Homemade items are needed for the United Way’s silent auction. Fisher believes the telethon had a record number of bid items last year, and those items included knitting, paintings, food and more.
A quilt, donated by the Hearts and Hands Quilting Guild, will be available through a raffle.
Debby Knight, the United Way’s director of administration and marketing, has been busy, Fisher said, dropping off packages with local businesses, letting them know about the telethon and offering ideas for fundraisers. She has also been meeting with business leaders to let them know how the telethon supports the member agencies.
Fisher also stressed that this year’s telethon is taking place two weeks later than normal because the local legion will be hosting the provincial convention the weekend after Thanksgiving, which is typically the telethon’s weekend.
Fisher said the United Way recognizes the importance of hosting the provincial convention for the legion, so the United Way’s board pushed the telethon back two weeks.
“The legion has always been a great supporter of the United Way telethon,” said Fisher. “They have always given us the space for free, so we gladly obliged and moved it a couple of weeks later to let them host provincials.”
The legion’s hall is a great facility, and Fisher said it has a great atmosphere when it is packed at various points during the telethon.
“That hall really fills up with entertainment throughout the course of the two days,” said Fisher.
