Kinsmen continue community support despite pandemic
Local service club meeting commitments despite COVID-19 outbreak
As the largest service organization in the city, the Moose Jaw Kinsmen and Kinettes have become synonymous with charitable acts and impressive donations to local groups and sports organizations.
In fact, if it weren't for the Kinsmen, many of those wouldn't be able to even exist let alone provide the services they do to the community.
But in a time where large-scale gatherings are prohibited and the danger of COVID-19 is ever present, even organizations with the best of intentions have to take a step back from the public eye.
“Right now, we've kind of put everything on hold,” said Moose Jaw Kinsmen president Mike McKeown. “We keep in touch on Messenger and stuff and have some dialogue back and forth, but there's not much going on as far as clubs and stuff. But we are fulfilling all our donations and commitments.”
The problem is keeping the coffers full. With no opportunity to conduct live fundraisers like their popular weekly Chase the Ace event, there's little if any money coming in on a regular basis. Even with that situation, though, things continue to look positive in the near future.
“I think once everything wraps up here, we'll still get cheques out to everybody,” McKeown said. “Things might be on hold, but we're still surviving.”
Of course, there's always the question of the longterm. What happens if we're well into August and there's still no end in sight?
“We're hoping it's done soon, but if it goes on for something like three months, it's something that will have to be looked at,” McKeown said. “We know that times are tough for everybody and donations might not be at the top of the list. We're hoping to try and help some businesses out somehow, maybe see if we can help some keep their doors open.
“It'll be interesting to see how we go about that if it comes to it, maybe do some fundraisers online.”
With numbers as low as they are in Saskatchewan right now, there's a chance things could open far sooner than that. And while the Kinsmen remain hopeful that will hap pen, time will only tell.
“Our main fundraisers right now are Chase the Ace and the Sportsman's Banquet, and the banquet isn't until next February,” McKeown said. “So hopefully between now and then we can have things figured out.”