By Sheldon Spackman

Highlighting The Need

United Way of Central Alberta launches annual fundraising campaign with Drive-In event

Aug 26, 2020 | 2:21 PM

Officials with United Way of Central Alberta have announced plans to kick-off their annual fundraising campaign.

With no large luncheon able to be held this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, officials say registration is now open for their first-ever Drive-In kick-off, taking place Sept. 10 from 3:00-4:00 p.m. in the parking lot near GoodLife Fitness at Parkland Mall.

Brett Speight, CEO for United Way of Central Alberta, says they wanted to still engage with the community while also offering a virtual event.

“We wanted to try and get as many people together as possible and we came up with the Drive-In idea,” he explains. “In conjunction with that, we actually created our own local campaign video this year. We’re very excited, so it will actually be premiering not a full-length feature, but will be the premier of our own campaign video as well, so it ties-in very nicely.”

Tickets for the event are $30 and also get you entry into a raffle for a staycation prize pack valued at over $2,000.

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For those unable to attend the Drive-In kick-off, Speight says you can watch it live online as well by receiving a link to the live stream.

Speight says this year’s fundraising campaign video will do a great job of demonstrating the need for United Way support to many local organizations.

“We’ll also be sharing some of the work that we did throughout COVID with the support of the community, and hearing from some of our agencies, as well as program participants,” he points out. “Since our first campaign, we’ve invested over $32 million in agencies throughout central Alberta and helped hundreds of thousands of people,” exclaims Speight. “That’s the direct funding, but we also help with supporting and bringing awareness to different social issues in the community through our priority areas of income, education, and wellness. So we really try to highlight those different issues as well.”

Speight says United Way of Central Alberta currently funds about 30 local agencies running 40 programs throughout the community.

“Then we also offer small grant programs for professional development and small capital equipment funds as well,” remarks Speight. “So when you add that up, probably close to 40 agencies receive support for different initiatives, and then if we went into the COVID response, we’re probably 70 plus agencies through that as well.”

“We just want to talk about the work we do and how big the need will be moving forward with everything that’s going on with the pandemic,” concludes Speight. “The more people we can get out to help spread our message, the better. So we hope to see, or virtually see many people.”

To register for the United Way of Central Alberta Drive-In kick-off event either in person or online, visit https://www.rafflebox.ca/raffle/uwcakickoffraffle.