Funding issues has the Rotary Club of Guelph wondering if it can keep putting on the annual Canada Day celebrations at Riverside Park.
Marva Wisdom, speaking on behalf of Rotary, told Guelph City Council on Tuesday that it is getting harder and harder to find donations to put on the day of activities that traditionally end with a fireworks display.
"The committee has been thinking of not putting on Canada Day next year and the year after because of the challenges we've had this year," Wisdom told council. "It is in jeopardy."
Rotary was at council asking for $7,000 to help pay for this year's fireworks display, one they are planning to be a little bigger than usual in light of Canada's 150th birthday celebrations. Council agreed to provide the extra money.
This year's fireworks display, ordered last fall, will cost $25,000, $7,000 more than usual.
Canada Day at Riverside Park is a fundraiser for Rotary. It attracts roughly 30,000 people annually.
Wisdom said there was time Rotary would come away from Canada Day at Riverside Park with up to $30,000 that it would distribute to various worthy city causes. This year it is "guesstimating" it will come away with $4,000.
The main problem is a reduction in sponsorship dollars.
The projected cost of this year's Canada Day at Riverside Park is $150,911, Wisdom explained. There have been $56,000 in donations in kind, leaving Rotary to fundraise $94,000.
"It has been a struggle, to say the least," Wisdom said.
Wisdom said Rotary could start looking at Canada Day as a "community benefit" rather than a fundraiser, which could open it up to other types of assistance in the form of grants that it doesn't qualify for because it is currently a fundraiser. But that would mean no money would be raised to distribute in the community.
Council has $5,000 available in its budget set aside for a possible Market Square event that will be given to Rotary, plus $2,000 from a reserve fund.
