A $2,000 donation by Ensign Energy Services has pushed the United Way Estevan past their goal of $338,000.
“I am so excited. I truly am,” said United Way Estevan president Wendy Gustafson. “I did not lose faith, but I’m not going to lie … as we got a little closer (to the end of the year), I thought this is a little test of my faith
and patience.”
Their current total is $339,201.72.
When the United Way’s 39th annual telethon in mid-October went off the air, it had a total of $321,357, which was more than $16,000 short of their goal. The donations continued to come in following the broadcast, and the organization was less than $2,000 short of their goal when Ensign’s contribution came in.
Executive director Debby Knight received a call from Ensign Dec. 16. Ensign had met with its charities committee, and the United Way Estevan was mentioned, and the energy company thought the local United Way was worthy of support.
Gustafson has been saying for several weeks that the United Way wanted to reach its goal before the end of 2015, which is also the end of their fiscal year, so they could fully fund their 15 member agencies and three community partners.
“I am just amazed that we actually hit $338,000,” said Gustafson.
Over the last couple months, the United Way has been reminding the public that they were short of their goal, and they were hoping to reach their objective.
“In this community, and in this southeast corner of the province, people continue to give,” said Gustafson. “You wonder where it is coming from, but people have sent in money, and people heard, through the media … that we were short of our goal, and they rallied and made the goal happen.”
Gustafson said she is relieved they eclipsed the goal, and it means more to reach the objective now than the day of the telethon, with the way the board and the United Way’s supporters persevered.
“It’s pretty neat to hit it right now, at this point in time, knowing how difficult things are for a lot of people, since our economy isn’t what it was a couple years ago, or even last year,” she said.
