January 9, 2024 – Message to the Membership
Posted on January 9, 2024 in Message to the Membership
HAAPPpppeee New Year one and all! I hope this year will be the one where we all hit it out of the park.
I’m going to start out by thanking you all for reading these little updates. They used to be weekly, but things were different then (we were going through a pandemic), and regular communication was critical. But now, things are a lot less pandemicky so this communication has become more like a monthly update.
And judging from the feedback I get, I know this gets read fairly regularly (you’re reading it after all), so I’m going to appeal to each of you for a little favour.
As you might have seen in my last write up from December, I’m Swinging With The Stars on January 27, 2024 at TCU Place. It’s coming up waaaayyy too quickly, but the online voting opportunity is now available! (link below)
This brings both good and bad news. First, the bad. The SWTS website’s relentless ‘Countdown to Showtime’ banner that appears as a header on every frickn page is now down to the teens (Yikes!!). That’s right, it’s now just 19 days away (Gulp!).
But the good news is that by clicking on this link: Voting – Swinging with the StarsSwinging with the Stars (swtsyxe.com) you will now be able to show your support for moi by voting via a donation in my name. Of course, the funds are all going to the City Hospital’s Eye Centre, which at the sake of redundancy (and boredom for some of you regular readers, I’m sure), saved the vision in my left eye a couple of years ago.
So, you can choose any amount you wish, but there are buttons that make it easy to donate $20, $50, $100, $200, $500, or you can customize your donation with another button on the page. So far I’ve raised an amazing $0 according to the website.
Not only is that a little embarrassing (OK, a lot embarrassing), it’s also a little incorrect, as I happen to know of a couple of business folks that have provided donations in my name prior to the online voting. But presumably, this $0 number reflects the online voting that’s taken place so far.
I’m going to put out an appeal and a challenge to the business community of Saskatoon. I always talk about how great, community-minded and philanthropic you are, so now I’m going to ask you to prove it. Please show your support for me and this great cause by voting for me.
I heard the record amount raised in the 10 previous Swinging With The Stars is $119,000, which was raised by a doctor. Well, I’d like nothing more than to have the business community of Saskatoon step up and blow the doors off this amount. Let’s show those frugal doctors what the business community can do when it rallies behind something (or someone). And considering I’m at $0, we’ve got a long way to go.
I’ve been debating about sharing the following, because being health-related, it’s a tad personal and may be over the top because of that, but it may also give me some leverage for a sympathy vote for you to choose to click $20 my way (what’s $20 these days? Make it $50, or even $100…). But anyway, I was just diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in my hips (fun, fun – or should I say hip, hip hooray! Wah Wah).
I’m falling apart, I tell ya. First my eye, now my hips, next might be my brain – oh never mind… And did I forget to mention that I was also just diagnosed with a hip impingement condition to boot? (Dear God, does it ever stop?) Perfect timing for a dance competition, hey?
What makes it makes it even more ironic is that I’m dancing a hip hop routine (and yes, there’s plenty of hip movement in hip hop). So with that in mind, maybe now you’ll turn that $100 into a $200 donation in my name. That way my chronic pain will be more worthwhile – no pain, no gain, right?
And the other thing to garner the sympathy vote is I’m the old guy in the mix (OK, Boomer). Several of them are either the age of my kids, or closer to the age of my kids than to me. So if you’re a boomer, presumably you’ve got some disposable income, and you can turn that $200 donation in to a $500 donation. Plus, you’re more likely to need the services of The Eye Centre in the near future than anyone, so don’t you want them to have the best equipment available?
The great thing is you can donate in your business name and your personal name and get a charitable tax receipt either way (or even better, both ways… why not??)
If you want to come watch the shenanigans, please do so, but act quickly as the show is 85 per cent sold out. And when you purchase your tickets, be sure to indicate your support for me there as well.
Tickets – Swinging with the StarsSwinging with the Stars (swtsyxe.com)
Thanks again for your consideration and generosity. I look forward to seeing you in the galaxy!
Until next time, be safe, be smart, be considerate, be well, but most of all, be kind.
Keith Moen
Executive Director
NSBA