"Cowardice asks the question...is it safe? Expediency asks the question...is it politic? Vanity asks the question...is it popular? But conscience asks the question...is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because it is right." ~Dr. Martin Luther King

Friday 17 February 2012

A Successful Fundraiser

My daughter Heather and her family were  involved in a fundraiser last Saturday night for the Special Olympics Hockey team.  My grandson Adam is a member of the team. They will go to Edmonton in March to compete.

The fundraiser is an annual affair. Every year  proceeds are more. The main attraction is the  silent auction. 

Rough estimate of gross proceeds this year is $23,000. Expenditures are expected to be about $5,000
Leaving net funds raised for a good cause $18,000.

Aurorans may remember the last fund raiser held  for the July 1st Parade at the Aurora Legion in 2009. It was organised by a sub-committee of the town's leisure services committee therefore under the auspices of the Town.  The committee chairperson Sher St. Kitts  reported no proceeds.

It was announced as a fundraiser the Tuesday before the event by the Mayor at a Council meeting.

Afterwards when no statement was forthcoming about proceeds, as was the norm, questions were asked.

The questions were directed to  the administration. Answers were not provided.  Reason being, the event was organized by the Aurora Dream Team and staff had no authority to inquire nto the affairs of a private organization.

Because no funds were reported, the town provided funding in the amount of $8,000 for the July 1st Parade in the 2009 budget. St Kitts came to a budget meeting and asked for more. There would be no parade without more funding. Councillor MacEachern  moved an additional $2,000.

In 2010,no fundraiser was held. The town provided $10,000 for the Parade and $2,000. for the  organizer,St. Kitts ,to hire an assistant to organize the parade.

Appearing at an Aurora Council meeting  in 2009,  during  public forum ,which does not require a request for delegation status or a reason beforehand, the chairperson of the town's sub-committee of the Leisure Services Committee made a stream of  unfounded accusations and unsubstantiated allegations of wrong doing against a councillor.  Because  questions had been asked about funds  raised.

At the very next meeting,  Council honoured the chairperson  with a reception and a cake and a public award for  her contribution to the July 1st Parade. It was an item on the formal agenda.

The fundraiser  for the Special Olympics, held every year with higher proceeds, remind me of the Aurora  event and the question which was never answered

There was a Silent Auction. There were four tables of beautiful prizes. Donated by poople and business  in the community.

What became of the proceeds ?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Perhaps the point of Warren Mar's report on the Culture Centre agreement, Mr. Sesto's consistently intelligent comments on Aurora affairs and your references to opaque and unaccountable fund raisers/grants/expenditures of taxpayer monies simply serve to state that possibly these free rides are coming to an end.

Councillors Abel and Pirri are simply asking questions about a suspect agreement which is a part of their responsibility as stewards of public money. The hysterical response from Culture Centre board members is typical of their type.

Cultural matters always seems to attract those seemingly versed in the arts, be it music, dance, art or literature, and these people appear to be social snobs who look down their long, thin noses at the members of the community at large. They think of themselves as the "keepers of the flame" of culture.

The components of the arts range from the esoteric to the broadest interest and appeal to the "masses."

The culture, and the history, of any community should rest in the hands of the broadest cross-section of that community so that the events that are staged provide an opportunity to show what we were, what we have become and what we aspire to be in the future.

It is my recommendation that Council adopt portions of Mr. Mar's report immediately, beginning with the appointment of two councillors to the Culture Centre board, and providing one year's notice to terminate the agreement. Funding should be done for the next twelve months on a quarterly basis and supported by an opening the Centre's books so that the community is finally able to see how its annual stipend of some $350,000 is being spent.

This information would reveal whether board members are receiving any remuneration in return for volunteering their labour for a cause they seem so intent on defending.

While this is taking place Council should create a joint Cultural/Historical Society Centre so that a year from now Aurora has available to it the best of both without the fractious bickering that has been taking place for far too long.

Anonymous said...

Whoa, 4:24 PM. Reverse snobbery is as ugly and unpleasant as the other type.

Anonymous said...

"Whoa, 4:24 PM. Reverse snobbery is as ugly and unpleasant as the other type."

Actually sounds like a Christopher Watts follower to me.

Anonymous said...

I hope this Special Olympic team fundraiser is transparent enough to issue a statement of their finances. It's my experience that most don't.