Gitta Schoenne has been coordinating the Business Gives Back fundraiser in Penticton for 18 years.
Image Credit: Contributed
November 29, 2014 - 10:50 AM
PENTICTON - Organizers of Penticton's Business Gives Back are taking a year off as Gitta Schoenne and the three other members of the board find themselves too busy for the undertaking this year.
“I've been in charge of it for 18 years,” Schoenne says, confident of its return in years to come.
“We’ve all just been so busy — it’s a huge undertaking,” she says.
Business Gives Back raises money for local charities and families in need by hosting a luncheon. Business owners buy tickets to attend, bringing a donation representative of their business, or they donate cash.
“We try to purchase items at cost, and auction them off,” Schoenne explained, noting that 1.2 million had been donated back to the community, in addition to the establishment of a legacy fund with Community Futures.
Schoenne says the event raised a record $88,000 in one luncheon. She adds the group has $30,000 left over from last year. Some of that money will go to families in need, and some will be directed to a legacy fund.
“Our capital in the legacy fund generates $3,200 per year,” she says, money that will also be distributed to families suffering illness, or to charitable events such as school breakfast programs.
News from © iNFOnews, 2014