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Senior Games in the black

Event overcame donor fatigue to post $20,000 surplus, Township council told
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Senior Games administration director Gordon Zacher told Township council the event has managed to end up in the black.

The Langley edition of the B.C. Seniors Games managed to overcome “donor fatigue” and posted a modest financial surplus of $20,000, after paying back emergency loans to Langley Township and the City of Langley.

Games administration director Gordon Zacher said a surge of donations from the community made the difference.

“That really saved our bacon,” Zacher told the Monday Township council meeting (Oct. 27).

It represents a major turnaround from July, when Milt Kruger, president of the Langley 2014 B.C. Seniors Games Society, wrote the Township and City to ask for help covering a projected $75,000 shortfall.

“Our fundraisers are finding that our local business community is showing signs of fatigue with respect to the sponsorship of major events,” Kruger said in a letter to the Langley councils.

The society was asking for $60,000 from the Township and $15,000 from the City in the form of a cash advance. Those loans have been paid in full, Zacher said.

An executive summary shows about half the Games $698,000 budget came from community sources in the form of cash and in-kind contributions, with the rest coming from participants’ entry fees (23 per cent) and various levels of government (28 per cent).

The thousands of athletes who competed in the B.C. Senior Games (which have been renamed the 55+ BC games) held Sept. 9-13 produced an estimated $2 million in economic activity in the Langleys, according to the B.C. Seniors Games Society.



Dan Ferguson

About the Author: Dan Ferguson

Best recognized for my resemblance to St. Nick, I’m the guy you’ll often see out at community events and happenings around town.
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