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| Path: Main Street : Resources & Library : Research Articles : Feature Article |
Down-home approach pays off for Asthma SocietyMay 21, 1998; Canadian FundRaiser
Home Hardware stores in small towns across Canada are proving that traditional fundraising tactics can still pack a punch. Through barbecues, penny raffles, Christmas craft draws and dinners, Home Hardware staff and their communities brought in over $128,000 for the Asthma Society of Canada in 1997.
Many stores approach planning the events as a way to give their community something that will fill an interest or reinforce its community spirit. Last year the Home Hardware store in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, for example, held a series of decorating seminars, while the store in Invermere, British Columbia, ran everything from raffles and a crafts draw to a free beef on a bun dinner. Store owners Lucy and Nell Miller cover the expenses for the meal and ask everyone eating to consider making a donation to the Society. Through events such as this, the Invermere community raised over $1,900 for the Society, entering the highest bracket of awards the Society presents for the fourth consecutive year.
"The support of many Home Hardware stores such as Invermere's has helped us to do two major things," says Elizabeth Kovac, executive director of the Asthma Society. "We have been able to create a 1-800 line and are planning the creation of a grant."
The new national Asthma hotline has a trained health professional answering any questions a caller may have about the respiratory disease or related medications. "The 1-800 line makes a difference to the residents of small towns that are involved in raising funds through their local Home Hardware store," explains Kovac. "They don't have a respirologist and turn to their family doctor with questions. The hotline makes information readily accessible to them. They still must seek professional medical care, but their immediate concerns or questions may be answered."
Proceeds from Home Hardware stores have also helped the Society to create a new grant. The Home Hardware and Asthma Society Grant for Training and Research is still in its planning phase with the annual amount and the guidelines for applications yet to be finalized. The Society is also exploring the possibility of using some of the funds Home Hardware has given to hold asthma information seminars. In the winter of 1997, a successful series of pilot seminars were held in Toronto, and Kovac says that she would like to one day see the seminars held nationally.
Collectively, Home Hardware stores sell calendars to benefit the Society. Available for 99 cents at stores across Canada, they are also distributed free of charge to donors who give more than $25. Home Hardware Canada covers the production, publishing and distribution costs of the calendars and includes $100-worth of its store's coupons inside each calendar. Since the Society and Home Hardware started the project eight years ago, the calendars have been generating about $100,000 annually for the Society.
For more information contact the Asthma Society of Canada at (416)787-4050.
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