Communithon to mark its 30th year, kick off Sept. 9

The Weyburn and District United Way will kick off their 30th Communithon on Friday, Sept. 9. The event will be at the Access Communications building in Weyburn, located at 120 10th Avenue South, at 3 p.m.

The 30th Communithon will be held on Oct. 21 and 22. To commemorate the special anniversary, all former residents who have been involved in previous Communithons are encouraged to contact the board of directors to participate in the telethon this year. The chair of the United Way and Communithon committee is CJ Mainil.

Captain United and Lady Charity, Curtis Bourassa and Tabitha Mainil, have been chosen and are ready to attend special events before the telethon. Businesses and organizations that want to plan special events can download the appropriate forms from the website: www.weyburnunitedway.com.

New this year, residents can find information on events and fundraising challenges for Communithon on Facebook, by searching Weyburn and District United Way.

The Weyburn and District United Way was organized in 1965 to provide an umbrella organization to support various organizations within Weyburn and surround areas by coordinating the collecting of donations from businesses, individuals and organizations.

Door-to-door solicitation was carried out by volunteers, until 1982 when community talent was gathered in the very first 33-hour telethon, called Communithon. Volunteers will be needed again, with many different aspects to helping out.

Annually, children from all the local schools are involved as entertainers, they participate in a poster competition, create fundraisers for their classes, and even work at the Communithon as volunteers. The Communithon has been hosted at the Weyburn Comprehensive Cafetorium since 2007.

More details on this year's Communithon will be available after the kickoff.