With the book closed on 2016, the final numbers have been added up for the United Way Estevan and their year-long fundraising efforts highlighted by the annual Telethon in October.

Last spring, United Way board members announced their 2016 fundraising goal of $325,000. That represented a decrease from the previous year as the organization prepared for a slight drop off in support due to the economic climate.

But, as Estevan and southeast Saskatchewan has proven time and time again, when the going gets tough...the tough get going.

In total, the United Way Estevan raised $398,460 for its' 15 member agencies that support and directly affect the lives of thousands in the southeast.

During the 2016 TELETHON IN OCTOBER alone, over $372,000 was donated by the community and local businesses in only 33 hours. That marked the highest off-air total in the history of the United Way in their 40 years of hosting the Telethon.

It also helped the surpass the $8 MILLION MARK OVER 40 YEARS OF THE TELETHON.

United Way 2016 President: Christa Morhart"Estevan just continues to amaze, they just give and give and give," expressed United Way President Christa Morhart on the character of the community. "Every single person and every single company in our community needs to give themselves a pat on the back and be very proud."

"That's why I'm proud to live in Estevan, and proud to be a part of the United Way in Estevan."

When the original goal is set, the United Way has already decided how they will divide the funds among their 15 MEMBER AGENCIES. Now that there is almost an additional $75,000 at the board's disposal, the allocations committee will sit back down and decide how the extra funds will be split up.

"We'll look back at the member agencies original needs and we will also contact those member agencies and see if anything else has come up since our original allocation," explains Morhart. "We will do the very best to allocate those funds among the member agencies to get the best value for the community."

The allocations committee will discuss over the next several weeks on how to divide the funds and the decisions will be made before the United Way Estevan's annual general meeting on March 31st.