ESTEVAN - The United Way Estevan set a new off-air record for its Telethon.
The United Way received $380,676 in donations at the 48th annual fundraiser; the goal was $348,000. The funds donated by the community will support the organization's member agencies and community impact projects.
The telethon went on the air at 8 a.m. Friday morning. The broadcast raised more than $122,000 on the first day, and was sitting at more than $172,000 as of Saturday afternoon.
The first big donation on Saturday afternoon came in from SaskPower. The contribution was more than $113,000, thanks to funds raised by the employees and matched by the corporation.
Then the employees and management of Westmoreland Mining LLC's Estevan mines brought in their donation, which was $84,630, as the corporation matched the amount raised by the employees. That donation at 2:40 p.m. Saturday pushed the telethon to more than $370,000, well past its goal. Donations continued to come in after the United Way surpassed the objective.
The previous off-air record was $377,152, set in 2019. This year's telethon set the new benchmark just before 4 p.m.; the telethon wrapped up a little more than an hour later.
The entire 33-hour event took place at the Estevan branch of the Royal Canadian Legion and was broadcast live on Access Now TV. People could also watch it at unitedwayestevan.com.
This year's theme was You are the Community.
The fundraiser featured entertainment throughout the 33 hours. School students and other youth organizations accounted for much of the entertainment in the initial hours. Bands and duets provided the entertainment Friday night.
Students from the Estevan Comprehensive School's student representative council spearheaded the telethon from midnight to 6 a.m. Saturday during the annual ECS Takeover.
Additional entertainment took place Saturday. The Szakacs Family of Carnduff served as the closing act.
Ninety-seven hand-crafted bid items were available for people to bid on through a silent auction. The Hearts and Hands Quilting Guild supplied a quilt for a raffle. The auction and the raffle brought in $7,958.
The next edition of the Mercury will have more on this story.
