The United Way Estevan continues to receive outstanding support from the community for its annual telethon.
The 33-hour broadcast, which ran from 8 a.m. on Friday to 5 p.m. on Saturday at the Royal Canadian Legion’s Estevan branch, went off the air with a total of $350,215, one of the highest off-air figures in the fundraiser’s 41-year history. The money raised will benefit the United Way's 15 member agencies and two community partners.
“It doesn’t whether it’s a good time or bad, the community of Estevan steps up, whether it’s businesses, whether it’s individuals, whether it’s people new to Estevan or people who have been lifelong residents, they understand what the United Way does, they support everything it does and they allow us to succeed,” said local president Patrick Fisher.
The United Way entered the telethon with a goal of $325,000. It eclipsed the objective just after 2 p.m. on Saturday, when SaskPower came in with a donation of $115,336.50. But the support didn't stop there, and donations continued to come in until the broadcast’s conclusion.
Just after 4 p.m. on Saturday, Fisher called Jacline Nyman, the United Way’s national president and CEO, and informed her that Estevan's United Way had eclipsed its goal.
“That is fantastic news,” Nyman said. “Congratulations.”
Fisher then stressed that raising money for the member agencies is the most important thing of all.
“The city of Estevan, everyone in the community, understands and knows the works that the United Way Estevan does, that the United Way does with all of our member agencies, and the service they provide,” said Fisher.
The telethon enjoyed excellent support from the moment it went on the air. By 4 p.m. on Friday afternoon, it had already surpassed the $100,000 mark. The final total by the end of Friday was above $119,000, which is one of the best Friday totals ever for the telethon.
The broadcast continued through the overnight hours. The donations picked up again on Saturday morning. Most of the large donations came in on Saturday afternoon.
Fisher admits he was surprised with how much money was raised, since the price of oil remains relatively low and some in the community are still struggling economically.
“Factoring in the economy, and factoring in things like that, I obviously wanted to make sure that we had a realistic goal,” said Fisher. “I never would have expected we would be $25,000 over (the goal).”
He was always confident the United Way would reach its goal, regardless of whether it happened during the broadcast or after the event was finished. In 2013 and 2015, the United Way surpassed its goal following the telethon.
Fisher said it’s imperative that the United Way reach its goal every year.
“That means we’re able to go to our member agencies and say ‘What we said we would give you, we will give you.’ In the end, that’s what matters, and that’s what our board strives for,” said Fisher. “It’s a full group mentality to get to that goal regardless, and whether it took us a little longer than telethon, I knew we were going to reach it.”
Entertainment happened throughout the 33 hours, with people of all ages in the community lending their talents to the broadcast.
Fisher noted the telethon was held two weeks later than normal, since the legion hosted the provincial convention during the telethon’s traditional time the weekend after Thanksgiving. It allowed the United Way to book some performers who haven’t been able to entertain in recent years because of scheduling conflicts.
“We actually got a lot of new entertainment and a lot of different performers,” said Fisher.
He was particularly impressed with local band the Way, who served as the closing act. The Way had performed in the past, but this was their first time as the closing group. They played a mixture of country music, rock and roll and Christian praise songs.
“The last hour was just full of energy, the hall was rocking and it was great,” said Fisher.
The telethon also featured a quilt raffle, which raised $1,541. The Heart and Hands Quilt Guild created the quilt.
A record 96 bid items were also received this year, and they fetched $4,815. All bid items were hand-crafted by people in the community.
“It’s not just the number, but the quality and the uniqueness of them,” said Fisher. “I jokingly said a couple times that we basically had a craft show there. There were bird houses and there were paintings and so much more variety than in years past, and so many new names stepping up and donating.”
At one time, the United Way used to struggle to get bid items, he said. Now they have to find room for all of the merchandise.
The entire telethon aired live on Access Channel 7. The theme was United Through Adversity.
The United Way’s allocations committee will meet early in the new year to decide how it will divide the excess money from the telethon, and any donations that come in between now and the end of this year.
The money raised during the telethon is paid out during the 2018 calendar year, he said, so the United Way can wait to allocate the money.
“There are member agencies that we have marked that if we get excess (money), we will then dole out to add (to their allocation),” said Fisher. “Obviously a lot of them asked for more money than we were able to give. So extra money goes into the member agencies’ pockets.”
