Farwell4Hire closes on a record-breaking year of fundraising

Looking to start this week with a bang, 570 NEWS host Mike Farwell made the announcement on Monday that the 2021 Farwell4Hire campaign has set a fundraising record: raising $223,126 in a 37 day effort – or 38 days if you count the launch of the Rangers Reach 50/50 draw in late April. Issuing a sincere thank you from his family to the community, Farwell said the credit goes directly to those local individuals who participated in the initiative, hiring the talk show host for their own array of odd jobs.

According to Farwell, there was a conscious effort throughout this year’s initiative to not “make a big deal” out of the Farwell4Hire fundraising target, as the run marked the second COVID-19 era campaign for the annual fundraiser. Farwell acknowledged that there are many in the community having a “pretty difficult time” navigating through the pandemic, as he emphasized that he didn’t want the campaign to create “undue pressure”.

“That was even for me and the family when it comes to our efforts that go into the campaign – as we’re always trying to improve on the previous year.”

Comparing this year’s 38-day initiative to last year’s two-month campaign, Farwell noted that the 2020 fundraiser managed to raise $160,000 for cystic fibrosis research along with some organizations that have been “instrumental” in helping the community through the pandemic. While a campaign goal was not set, Farwell admits he was hopeful the 2021 campaign could raise $100,000 – an amount far surpassed by the 50/50 Rangers Reach draw alone at $113,640.

“When we finally totalled up all the numbers last night, we were able to quietly celebrate an enormous fundraising number,” said Farwell. “That $223,126 goes directly into cystic fibrosis research. We cracked $200,000 in the campaign during a pandemic – and all of the credit goes directly to you.”

After eight years of fundraising, Farwell joked that “somehow, someway”, the community is not yet sick of the initiative, as he added that the hard work of the 38-day campaign was “absolutely worth it”.

“A sincere thank you from our family to you (…) and don’t you dare ask me about next year, because I don’t know how we do anything like that again.”

Let's start the week with a bang. This year's #Farwell4Hire campaign has set a new fundraising record, raising more than $223,000 in 37 days. Thank you for helping us take a giant leap forward in the fight against #CysticFibrosis! @CF_KW @CFCanada pic.twitter.com/mMoVdcAVd5

— Mike Farwell (@farwell_WR) June 14, 2021