Royal Canadian Legion - Branch 24 Bridgewater
Like many non-profits, the Royal Canadian Legion is still pulling through the financial effects of COVID-19.
With the current gathering limits in the province, the Bridgewater Legion is looking at how they will raise funds to support their operations.
The early days of the pandemic were difficult and quickly drained money they had saved, said Wayne Thorburne, Bridgewater Legion president.
“It costs us $300 a day to manage that legion whether those doors are open or not,” he said.
“When the pandemic was on and it was completely closed, we were still spending $10,000 a month. We had a few dollars in our bank account, and we have money in trust, not a lot, but some.”
The Legion was able to find a little help in government grants when they shut down, and again when they reopened in June. They also applied for government subsidies, which covers 75 per cent of their staff wages.
However, due to current safety restrictions, fundraising still remains an issue, which Thorburne said is vital to their continued operation.
“We just started booking halls a little bit, just got people starting to book those,” he said.
“Our bingo is not up and running yet. Most of the stuff we’ve used to raise additional funds has pretty much been taken from us.”
With the lack of fundraising and the enforcement of limited group sizes, the Legion is now running on reduced hours to cut costs. They now operate six hours a day, six days a week.
“We used to be open until 10 O’clock most nights, and open on Sundays, but we just can’t afford it,” said Thorburne.
“The only thing we can hope for is the numbers will change, the processes or policies will change to allow us to do more things. I know sports gatherings now are increased to 50. That allows us to hold our dart league, but bubble groups are still limited to 10, which our Legion is set up for. Its tough.”
When it comes to fundraising, Thorburne said the Legion was able to restart some of its campaigns such as their dart league, limited haul rentals, Chase the Ace and their raffle box.
With many other non-profits running the same fundraisers however, he worries over saturation will stifle those attempts.
“Its like the shop local saying, ‘Shop Local, Buy Local, Think Local,'” said Thorburne.
“We need the community to support community in times like this.”
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