$90,000 raised in St. Claude auction
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Prescott James/Central Plain Herald-LeaderAuctioneer Gilbert Gauthier pushes for higher bids at St-Claude’s fundraising auction on March 7. The auction was held to raise money for the new St. Claude-Haywood Wellness Centre that will house many health services under one roof. |
From The Central Plains Leader in Portage la Prairie Manitoba
ST. CLAUDE — St. Claude-area residents are all on board a campaign train to build a wellness centre in the community.
On March 7, the town was host to a fundraising auction that raised $90,000 to help pay for the new facility.
“We are hoping to start construction on the centre by this fall,” explained Dr. Gisele Viens who currently works at the St. Claude Health Centre and was heavily involved in the execution of the fundraiser.
According to Viens, the community of St. Claude has been fundraising for the centre since April 2008, and so far more than half of the funds needed for the $815,000 facility have been raised. The project itself has been in the planning stages since 2004 and the funding for the rest of total funding for $1.7 million project will come from the federal govenrment.
Viens explained this particular fundraising event was exceptional due to the fact the items up for bid were donated by a variety of sources. Viens said that demonstrates the level of support the St. Claude-Haywood Wellness Centre has from the community.
“The auction items came from everywhere. They came from the people and businesses in St. Claude. We also received items from the surrounding area, including some items that came all the way from Winnipeg from organizations that try to help smaller communities,” explained Viens.
Among the auction items were artwork, antiques, an entire suite of bathroom fixtures, a custom-made utility trailer, and collectable sports items including a Chicago Black Hawks jersey signed by Jonathon Toews.
Suzie Fay, health committee president of the St. Claude Development Corp. (CDC), said the event was a tremendous success.
“I’m really pleased with the turnout. We have 400 chairs at the recreation centre, and there appeared to be more people than chairs present. It is very obvious that the community is supporting the wellness centre project in a huge way,” she said.
Fay observed many of the items up for auction sold for a very good price, more than their dollar value, and she couldn’t believe how successful the whole event was.
“The new wellness centre will mean all our health-care services will be centralized in one location, so really it means patients won’t have to drive between the current clinic and the hospital when they need x-rays or other test done,” Fay said.
St. Claude firefighters also got involved in the event by volunteering to be drink servers and bid spotters. According to fire chief Dave Chappellaz, the emergency services in St. Claude provided 15 volunteers to assist in the event and Chappellaz was amazed with how the event turned out.
“This event is great, I can’t believe how many people came out and there are people here from all over,” stated Chappellaz, adding volunteering at the event was the fire department’s way of contributing to the centre without stretching its confined budget.
“We are often in the community looking for funds for the fire department because we are a volunteer organization. So by volunteering here, we are able to contribute to the wellness centre without donating money,” he explained.
The blueprints for the 692-square-metre wheelchair accessible centre were revealed April 8. The new facility will be connected to the current physician clinic, and will house offices for physicians and other health-care staff. It will also house a massage therapist, a fitness centre, a public health nurse, and space for any visiting health-care professionals such as mental health workers.
The CDC hopes construction on the wellness centre will start in September. However, that depends on the fundraising, Fay has said.
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