Pandemic Forces Innovative Approach To Fundraising

By Becky Maxedon

Not many Americans alive today have ever lived through a worldwide pandemic. Everything people thought they had planned, controlled, and expected have been altered and the proverbial thinking cap has become a normal method for planning events as well as just about everything else.

And members of the Lake Havasu City nonprofit support groups put on those thinking caps and have put together some interesting and innovative alternatives to past events.

Fundraising endeavors for years have relied on walkers who collect pledges to support their favorite charity, but this year, plans have had to change.

More and more charitable and nonprofit organizations are looking to the virtual world and socially distanced events to fill their coffers and continue with support of designated efforts.

CFEL Run and Walk

The Lake Havasu Area Chamber of Commerce Foundation for Education and Leadership has set a virtual 5K run and walk. The CFEL Virtual Run – My Soul is With CFEL – to support their efforts in the community will take place between Sept. 15 to Oct. 3. The 5K can be completed anytime during that window.

To register for the run or to donate, visit www.havasuchamber.com and click on community events. There is $25 race fee and a $2.50 sign-up fee to register. Registration closes Sept. 14. Contact the Chamber at 928-855-4115.

Two events under the umbrella of the Havasu Community Health Foundation have also taken a creative approach to the standard formats that have been in place in the past.

September is Suicide Awareness and Prevention Month and that organization will fundraise with a virtual walk between Sept. 6 and Sept 12. Participants can take photos and videos of their walk and upload them onto the group’s Facebook page.

Proceeds from this walk benefit the #YOUmatter; Suicide Awareness and Prevention Program that works to prevent suicide and to assist those affected by suicide.

#Youmatter

For more information and to register to support Suicide Awareness and Prevention visit www.havasucommunityhealth.org. Registration for the walk is $25.

Under the community health foundation umbrella as well is the “Rally With Us For The Cure” that takes the place of the annual Breast Cancer Awareness and Prevention walk.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month is October and the group has planned an auto rally for Oct. 3. Participants can meet in the former Kmart Plaza parking lot at 10 a.m. The rally will caravan up McCulloch Boulevard to Acoma Boulevard and then toward Tavern 95.

Organizers urge everyone to decorate a vehicle and “Think Pink.”

Participants can register at www.havasucommunityhealth.org. There is no charge to be a part of the caravan.

Proceeds benefit the Cancer Association of Havasu Mammogram Screening Program that is dedicated to the prevention and early detection of breast cancer.

Available at the rally will be Breast Cancer Ribbon yard signs and awareness T-shirts for $15. The event is free to participants.

For more information on the Community Health Foundation events, call 928-453-8190.