With the 47th annual Telethon fast approaching for United Way Estevan, they've recently announced their goal for the event.

That current figure is $343,064, to be raised through donations from the community over a 33-hour period.

Last year the organization received $350,053 from their telethon.

United Way Estevan President Michelle Beaulieu explains what that money goes towards.

"That money is divvied up between our 15 member agencies and impact partners. Every year they put in a request for the amount of money that they need to continue functioning and then we hope to get that much money through our Telethon so that we can fund their projects."

"We have ones that are staples that we support every single year and we have a new one this year. People can apply to us to become a member agency or community impact partner, but we generally have about 15."

The whole board is starting up its operations now, with summer ending and fall beginning.

"We have a board of 23 people right now and everybody takes a part in the planning and the preparation. The Telethon is a 33-hour event and it's a lot of planning and preparation, we usually take the summer off and we get going here in September. It's a lot of work and we love it every year."

Beaulieu hopes to see another year that has a lot of community participation and donations.

"All the money that is raised is going to stay here in Estevan. Since our inception, we've raised over $9 million and so we're hoping to make our goal this year. This year our theme is to be part of the energy. We really hope that a lot of people join in at the Legion and get to see what the United Way is all about."

The 2023 United Way Estevan Telethon is set to take place October 13-14.

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