Virus surge prompts San Diego groups to cancel fundraisers
SAN DIEGO — COVID-19 is upending live events in San Diego County again.
Meals on Wheels and the San Diego County Taxpayers Assn. canceled upcoming fundraisers this week, citing the recent surge in coronavirus infections and the uncertainty among members of the public about gathering in large numbers.
“Better safe than sorry,” said Haney Hong, president and CEO of the nonprofit taxpayers group, which had been planning to host its first Taxpayer Olympics on July 29 at Liberty Station. “We didn’t want this to be a thing where COVID gets spread.”
Brent Wakefield, president and CEO of Meals on Wheels San Diego County, also cited an “excess of caution” as a driving force behind the decision to call off his group’s Reels on Wheels gala planned for Aug. 14 at a hotel on Harbor Island.
“We’ve been that way since the pandemic started,” he said. “We had to ask ourselves, ‘Is holding this event a responsible thing for us to do?’ And ultimately the answer was no.”
It’s too soon to tell whether the cancellations are aberrations amid what has been a much-celebrated reopening of public life in San Diego or if they are the leading edge of a new wave of retrenchments.
But the leaders at Meals on Wheels and the Taxpayers Assn. said they sensed unease among potential attendees because of the surge in cases.
“It just boils down to a lot of uncertainty about how people are feeling about the Delta variant,” the highly contagious strain of the coronavirus responsible for the surge, Hong said. “We were even hearing from folks who are already vaccinated that they are worried about getting infected too.”
The Taxpayer Olympics were planned as “a lighthearted, friendly way to get people from across the community together,” Hong said. It was to feature games of golf and cornhole, wine tasting and political trivia at The Loma Club. Tickets were $400 for individuals and $3,500 for teams.
Hong said “a good number” of 10-person teams had signed up, and playful taunting — “My team is going to crush yours” — had begun. “But in the end, with so much uncertainty, it just didn’t seem worth it” to hold the event, he said.
At Meals on Wheels, planning for the Aug. 14 gala began in February. The nonprofit typically holds its biggest fundraiser in the summer, indoors. After last year’s event was forced into the virtual realm by the pandemic, organizers were looking forward to gathering again in person, while recognizing that some social distancing might still be necessary.
They settled on a drivein-movie theme featuring “Grease” and scheduled it for the parking lot at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina. General admission tickets were $250 each. Organizers were hoping for about 250 attendees.
Wakefield said interest in a fundraiser like this typically increases about a month from the date of the event. This year, he said, “there was no frenzy.” They reached 100 tickets sold and stalled.
Sponsors were pulling back, saying they weren’t sure it would be safe, Wakefield said. Potential ticket buyers told them the same thing. So organizers decided to cancel.
The gala was intended in part as a celebration. Requests for Meals on Wheels rose 47% during the pandemic, Wakefield said, and the group was able to meet that demand thanks to donors and volunteers.