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Online live feed of Communithon will be made available for residents, #thisistheyear

Communithon will be a little different this year, as no audience will be allowed at the Weyburn Legion on Friday, October 23 due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Communithon will be a little different this year, as no audience will be allowed at the Weyburn Legion on Friday, October 23 due to COVID-19 restrictions. Local residents will be able watch the live feed of Communithon on AccessNOW TV, Channel 7 for Weyburn, or online at www.communithon.com.

“We have a great group of committee members and volunteers who have been working really hard to have a very successful Communithon this year,” said Wanda Miller, chair of the Communithon committee. “We are pretty excited about all the plans, and all the entertainment is lined up.”

The theme of the 2020 Communithon is “This is the year… this is the year you perform. This is the year you volunteer. This is the year you give. This is Your Year!”

Local artist Karissa Hoffart also created a special Communithon theme song, which will be played throughout the 2020 Communithon.

 

Communithon Entertainment Poster

 

The 11 community agencies for the 2020 Communithon are Big Brothers Big Sisters Weyburn, Canadian Mental Health Association, Canadian Red Cross, Community Low Income Centre, CNIB Foundation, Envision Counselling and Support Centre, Inclusion Weyburn, Spinal Cord Injury Saskatchewan, Weyburn Care-A-Van, Weyburn Special Care Home Auxiliary, and Weyburn Youth Centre.

“This community has supported Communithon for years, this is our 39th fundraiser, and already this year we have seen some great support from local businesses and individuals,” said Miller. “In turn, from the funds that are raised, they help support the programs and services of our community agencies. Residents will be able to see what those community agencies are, and what they do in the community, because there will be some great videos highlighting their programs during this year’s Communithon.”

“Our committee has been planning all year, and every month we had to make adjustments (due to COVID-19), and our committee members have ensured that all volunteers and entertainers are safe and that we are following all guidelines,” said Miller.

The COVID-19 restrictions in place at the Weyburn Legion for any volunteer, or live entertainment that will be attending in person, include a quick COVID-19 health check, temperature check, and signing a waiver. Only 30 people at maximum will be allowed in the upper hall of the Weyburn Legion.

“The big thing is that there will be no live audience allowed in the hall, and we are limited to the amount of people we can have in the hall. As a result, we have a lot of pre-recorded performers. There are a few live performers too,” said Jackie Wilson, entertainment chair of Communithon.

“We have a really good line-up of entertainment. It is exciting,” said Wilson. “In fact, the COVID-19 restrictions made us stretch our thinking and think outside the box. So we will have pre-recorded performances of people who no longer live in Weyburn.” There is an entertainment schedule for the 2020 Communithon published in today’s Weyburn Review.

“We really have to thank the teachers (who created a pre-recording), they are so busy this fall and had a lot on their plates. We really appreciate all the participation that we received,” added Wilson.

Donating to Communithon now more convenient

The Communithon Committee was able to partner with some of the local financial institutions that agreed to accept individual or personal donations via cash or cheque. Those locations include: Bank of Montreal, CIBC, Scotia Bank, and Weyburn Credit Union. Donations will be accepted at these locations until Thursday, Oct. 22.

“The finance committee will also be offering two new ways to donate the day of Communithon,” said Tasha Collins, finance chair of Communithon. “We will have curbside drop off available, where you can come down to the Legion, give us a wave and we will have someone come out to your car, get the donation, have it processed inside, and return to your vehicle with your tax receipt. The other new service will be donation pick-ups. We will have members of our team available to pick up donations from your home – donors can call in a pledge during Communithon and ask for the pickup service. The team will be providing pickups throughout the event at 1 p.m., 5 p.m., and 8 p.m.”

“As always we certainly welcome people to come to the Legion the day of Communithon to drop off their donations. Although it’s a bit different this year, we will still be set up on location to receive donations as usual,” added Collins. Residents can always donate on the www.communithon.com website by credit card.

The goal for the 2020 Communithon is $82,020. After the final total is finalized, the Allocation Committee will determine how the funds are allocated to the 11 community agencies.

Any community member can become a member of the allocation committee as long as they have no affiliation with the community agencies. Once the allocation committee receives the information on the amount of funds available to be allocated from United Way Regina, they meet to discuss each community agency application and the funding that was requested. They also use a tracking form, which will show the amount of time each community agency has worked towards the planning and hosting of the Communithon. Allocations are then determined between the community agencies, and then distributed by United Way Regina.

The Communithon executive will prepare a year-end report of Communithon, highlighting each community agency and their programs, and this report will be made available to the general public later this year.

It is especially important that all residents who want to watch Communithon this year are aware that audience members will not be allowed at the Weyburn Legion. For those who have AccessNow TV at home they can tune into Channel 7.

The online feed of Communithon will be available to watch from any web browser on a computer, laptop, iPad, iPhone or Android phone by visiting www.communithon.com, and the Communithon Facebook page will be updated throughout the day.