Border City Connects is feeling refreshed after residents came out in droves to support them during the Polar Bear Splash.
The event went online this year, after the COVID-19 pandemic made it logistically too difficult to have people gather to watch supporters get dunked in the ice-cold water.
Instead, residents were challenged to do their own videos and encourage the community to rally support behind Border City Connects. In total, 24 different people and organizations took the plunge in elaborate ways and costumes, and the $20,000 goal was beaten.
Marketing Manager Aaron Buckingham says right at the end, they were over $17,000, and an anonymous donor came through to get them over the hump.
“To have all of these people participate in the Splash was really heartwarming for us and it helps us deliver the programs that we try to get out to the community. It’s an amazing community that we live in, and once again the community has stepped up and helped us to reach that goal.”
Now, Border City Connects will be using the money for general costs to keep going. Some of this could be devoted to their Border City Express, Car-A-Van, and Shuttle busses, which helps people with mobility issues get to and from important locations both near and far from Lloydminster.
Some of it may also go to the Trishaw, which gets seniors out and about in the community as its pulled by the Border City Connects volunteers and also the Paragolfer, which gives people with mobility issues the power to do things from playing sports to even just walking down the aisle at a wedding, Border City Connects says.
Buckingham notes this will also help as they have new initiatives they’re expanding into to announce in the near future.
“Like everybody else in the last fifteen months or so, we’ve been hit hard with the pandemic. So keeping this programs and services going, to help those that need it, is right where this money is going.”
The next Border City Connects fundraiser, RibFest, will also be a go this year Buckingham adds, and more details will be coming soon.