The Westlock Rotary Spirit Centre, so named to reflect the spirit of giving in Westlock and to honour one of the largest private donors to the project, has indeed been a community effort.
Hundreds if not thousands of individuals have donated to the project, whether by supporting the myriad fundraising efforts or by providing direct donations to the project.
Those direct donations have earned donors a spot on the donor wall, prominently displayed in the lobby of the facility, which will be officially unveiled this Thursday, Oct. 4, at 7:30 p.m.
Fundraising committee co-chair Todd Ducharme said the Spirit of Westlock Foundation is within $100,000 of their $1.6 million fundraising goal, and hopes now that the facility is open and seeing regular use with the ice sports in town, more residents will be willing to contribute to the cause.
“We’re within $100,000. We’re hoping to sell 200 more seats, then we’ll be done with our commitment,” he said.
Hundreds of the seats have already been sold, for a price of $500 apiece, and Ducharme said he’s been impressed with the variety of residents who are coming out to contribute to this project.
“I have been involved somewhat in the seat sales, and I’ve just found it interesting that we’ve had so many seniors who have supported it,” he said.
“Old hockey fans from way back who have just said, ‘I used to come watch senior hockey and I just think it’s important.”
The push to sell seats has been ongoing since the early stages of the project, and with the facility now complete Ducharme hopes to draw some more interest.
“This biggest thing for us is we’re just trying to create awareness now, so people know they’re on sale and they can get them,” he said.
For more information about this fundraising effort, contact the Westlock Rotary Spirit Centre at 780-349-6654.
