Spring typically kicks off the yearly cycle of local outdoor fundraising events in Greater Sudbury, but the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a flurry of cancellations and postponements of charity walkathons, runs and similar events.
How are local charitable organizations dealing with the situation? We spoke to some of the people involved in a few major Greater Sudbury fundraisers that were supposed to happen over the next few weeks.
The Sudbury Credit Union Hike for Hospice, which supports the Maison McCulloch Hospice, was supposed to take place May 3.
Gerry Lougheed Jr., the chair of the hospice's board of directors, said the event is now postponed to the Thanksgiving weekend.
Last year, the event raised $175,000 for the hospice. That money is crucial, as hospices in Ontario must raise 34 per cent of their funding in the community — the other 66 per cent is provided by the government, Lougheed said.
“By the fact that we can't have a hospice walk next month, there's going to be huge pressures when this virus is over and the restrictions are lessened to be able to play some catchup,” he said.
Not only is Hike for Hospice postponed, local service clubs aren't bringing in their usual dollars and there are restrictions on funeral services and visitations, thus meaning less memorial donations given to the hospice.
Lougheed said he's still hopeful the Desjardins Live Butterfly release, which was set for this summer, will go ahead.
He points out that the Ontario government has provided financial help to many other sectors of society, but so far, not to hospices.
Just this morning, however, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the federal government plans to provide $350 million to Canada's charities sector, which has seen a severe drop in donations because of COVID-19.
People who want to help the hospice out in its financial crunch are invited to phone 705-920-9877 or visit maisonsudburyhospice.org/donate.
Lougheed, who contributes his time to fundraise for many different charitable organizations in Sudbury, said the pandemic is a “huge challenge” for local charities.
“Our community is very generous, but in these circumstances is unable to share that generosity in its traditional ways,” he said.
The Sudbury Rocks marathon, which was supposed to be held May 31 this year in support of the Northern Cancer Foundation, has been postponed to Oct. 25 because of COVID-19.
The race attracts about 2,000 participants and brings in anywhere from $30,000 to $50,000 for its charity of choice each year.
Sudbury Rocks promotions director Vince Perdue said the race's postponement is definitely disappointing, because so many people look forward to the event.
If people can't participate in the race on the new date, organizers are giving back their registration fees or allowing them to defer until 2021. You can also choose to donate your registration fees to the cancer foundation.
As for the impact on the cancer foundation, Perdue hopes the race will go ahead in October, and still raise the same amount of money. “Hopefully we can get it in this year,” he said.
Even if the 2020 race has to be outright cancelled, Perdue said the Northern Cancer Foundation will still receive donations from the event's major sponsors.
Anthony Keating, who oversees fundraising for several foundations supporting Health Sciences North — including the Northern Cancer Foundation — said he's also hopeful the new date will work.
“Given this would be in October, we're very hopeful that things will get back to some sense of normalcy,” he said.
“Postponing will ideally allow us to continue with the event and hopefully to raise some significant dollars for the cancer foundation.”
Keating is the president and chief development officer for not only the Northern Cancer Foundation, but the Health Sciences North Foundation, the NEO Kids Foundation and the HSN Volunteer Association.
He said all of these organizations rely heavily on third-party organized events, and the spring and summer are busy times.
Like the Sudbury Rocks marathon, the KiSS 105.3 Father-Daughter Ball in support of the NEO Kids Foundation, which was supposed to take place earlier this month, has also been postponed (new date TBD).
“There will be other events that we will have to look at,” Keating said. “At this point in time we've been able to postpone most of our events. The summer season is a busy time for events for us. We're monitoring this situation very closely.”
Events still planned for this summer include a couple of golf tournaments, the Kivi Park Move series and the NHL vs. Docs game Aug. 9.
As for the financial impact on HSN's foundations, Keating said he and his staff are currently “working through the numbers.”
“We're hopeful that we will be eligible for the wage subsidies that have been announced through the federal government,” Keating said.
“We also recognize that our community is really stepping up. It's kind of difficult for us to determine whether or not we're going to be hard hit, or whether or not we're going to be stable, or maybe even raise more money. Our community is really generous.”
If you feel so inclined, Keating asks that people donate to the COVID-19 Support Fund, a collaborative effort between the Health Sciences North Foundation, the NEO Kids Foundation and the Northern Cancer Foundation.
The fund is for donations to purchase necessary equipment and supplies to support front-line health care workers at Health Sciences North during the pandemic. You can donate online here.
