Donations in Great Fish hit $1.88M

Donors gave generously up until the very last minute of the Great Fish Community Challenge on Friday resulting in more than $200,000 being collected on the final day.

The Whitefish Community Foundation organizes the challenge and provides the matching funds to inspire the community to give to the participating nonprofits.

The final hour of donating on Friday, however, was riddled with an Internet outage that did prevent a few very last minute donors from making a gift.

“That is why this is a seven-week long campaign,” said Foundation President Linda Engh-Grady. “It takes time for people to give and you never know what can go wrong in mid-campaign,” she said.

The preliminary total for the 50 participating nonprofits tallied just over $1.88 million. This is an increase of more than $300,000 over last year’s numbers and does not include the final match percentage that will be awarded by the Whitefish Community Foundation.

Many of the charities raised more than $20,000, which is the maximum amount eligible to be matched, with some charities raising over $90,000 through the campaign.

“We are thrilled with how much the charities are raising in the campaign and to see the challenge grow every year,” Engh-Grady said.

The match percentage is being calculated by the Whitefish Community Foundation and will be unveiled at the fourth annual Great Fish Community Challenge Awards Celebration on Thursday, Oct. 18. The public is invited to a pre-reception from 4:45-6 p.m. at Casey’s for a slideshow, hors d’oeuvres and a no-host bar. Following the reception, the awards ceremony will begin at 6:15 p.m. at the Whitefish Performing Arts Center, just a short walk from Casey’s backdoor.

Several bonus grants will be announced at the awards celebration.

The Great Fish Award, which includes a $5,000 grant, will recognize a nonprofit that demonstrated outstanding participation in all areas of the 2018 Challenge. This award is selected each year by the Whitefish Community Foundation Board of Directors.

Special awards, including the Jean Howard Memorial Award, Russ and Mary Jane Street Community Service Award, and Doris Schumm Community Spirit Award, will also be announced.

After a final performance, a $1,000 grant will be presented to the nonprofit winner of the Mic Drop Contest for the most creative rap representing the true spirit of the Great Fish Community Challenge.

Throughout the campaign, incentive grants totaling more than $15,000 were offered to help encourage donations to the 50 participating charities.

Whitefish Community Foundation is dedicated to fostering philanthropy, building endowments, and helping donors and nonprofits benefit the community. For more information about the Whitefish Community Foundation visit www.whitefishcommunityfoundation.org.