Canada Games costs rising, fundraising slipping
Organizers for the 2009 Canada Games in P.E.I. are feeling the pressure to find the money to stage the games.
A weakening economy has made fundraising more difficult at the same time as organizers are facing unexpected costs.
Head fundraiser Wayne Carew told CBC News Tuesday he's asked 350 businesses to donate over the last three years and as the big event gets closer more companies are saying no.
"The economy has changed significantly in the last six months," said Carew.
"We would go to Toronto and have two days booked with eight to 10 appointments. Now, we might get one day and three appointments."
More being spent on facilities
Organizers wouldn't say how much of the $7 million target has been raised.
Many sports facilities have been built and upgraded in preparation for the games, some budgeted for, and some not.
Memorial Field in Charlottetown, for example, needed more work than originally planned. It will be one of the baseball venues. Poor drainage and other problems became apparent at last summer's junior nationals.
Baseball Canada told the host committee after that tournament that if it wanted to use the field for the Canada Games, it would need to put in a grassed infield, something P.E.I. has never had before.
Host committee President Joe Spriet said facility upgrades for the games are capped at $120,000 per venue, but the Memorial Field renovation will cost much more. As a result, money had to be pulled from an emergency fund to help cover the cost.
"We had a few communities that opted out of actually hosting games, so that money freed up," said Spriet.
"We didn't have to spend any money on those facilities. So that freed that money up within the global facilities budget."
Money has been tight for the organizing committee, but Spriet said it will absolutely not run a deficit.
The committee would also like to step up recruitment of volunteers. So far only 1,800 have signed up, and 6,000 are needed. Spriet said all volunteers have to be cleared by police, so he would prefer that volunteers sign up early.
The games will be held in venues from Summerside to Souris, Aug. 15 to 29.