The Communithon campaign for 2016 got a head start of $3,780 on Sunday, as they received half of the proceeds of the third annual Duck Derby and Family Fall Festival from the City of Weyburn employees.
The event was held by the Soo Line Historical Museum and boardwalk, with 2,256 ducks sold for the derby. Half of the proceeds went to the cash prizes and to pay the expenses of the event.
“The turnout for the day was really strong, with many families enjoying the bouncy houses and face-painting provided by the City of Weyburn. The weather was just windy enough to give the ducks a push down the depleted Souris River,” said Sabrina Kraft, chair of the Weyburn and District United Way’s Communithon.
She noted they were not able to do anything about the low level of the river, but they were thankful that members of the Weyburn Canoe and Kayak Club were on hand in kayaks to give the ducks a little push after being dumped into the river at the Third Street bridge.
The winning ducks were as follows: in first place, winning $756, was Kylie Coad (#0869); in second place, winning $529.20, was Cary Thompson (#1925); in third place, winning $378, was Larry Sonnenberg (#1957); in fourth place, winning $226.80, was Canada Post (#1905); and in fifth place, winning $100, was Aime Guilleman (#2020).
“It was nice to receive the donation at the kickoff to start gearing up for this year’s Communithon,” said Kraft, noting the campaign has a goal this year of $130,000. The annual telethon fundraiser is set for Friday and Saturday, Oct. 28 and 29 at the Cugnet Centre.
The Communithon has forms available on their website, at www.weyburnunitedway.com, for donating or for payroll deductions, plus they will be making extensive use of their Facebook page to make regular updates to their campaign.
Businesses are being encouraged to hold fundraising events for Communithon, and by filling out a form giving information about where and when it is, the event will be promoted through the Facebook page.
A new feature for this year is the progressive 50-50, for which tickets are now available, with the idea to build up the pot as more tickets are sold. In the past, a 50-50 was done at the Communithon event itself, but this year the committee wanted to expand its availability with this new raffle. If all of the tickets are sold by or before Communithon, the raffle will raise a total of $5,000, with half going to the winning ticket and half to Communithon.
Tickets will be available at the Co-op food store or at the Open Air Market throughout September and October, or from any United Way board member or member agency at three for $5.
The Communithon Cart will be back again this year, travelling from business to business. When it arrives at a business, they are encouraged to put an item in for the silent auction, such as a product, service or gift certificate, before sending the cart on to another business. The items collected will be sold at the silent auction at Communithon as another fundraiser for the charity. The Facebook page will be used as a way to let people know where the cart will be, and businesses are encouraged to post photos of the cart at their place of business on the Facebook page to help promote it.
Local artists who are interested in performing on the stage at Communithon are encouraged to fill out a form on the website to get their names in for local entertainment.
