Nonprofit groups that bank on the rally to bolster social
programs fall far short
Some of the organizations that depended on the Hollister
Independence Day rally for fundraising proceeds will have to look
elsewhere to meet their needs.
Nonprofit groups that bank on the rally to bolster social programs fall far short
Some of the organizations that depended on the Hollister Independence Day rally for fundraising proceeds will have to look elsewhere to meet their needs.
The Rev. Ardyss Golden, minister of the Hollister United Methodist Church, put on the church’s annual biker breakfast for the four days of the unofficial rally, but Golden guessed the church made a third what they usually make.
“This year, the amount of people we fed on Saturday, Sunday and Monday was less than the total amount of people we fed on Saturday alone last year,” Golden said. “For those three days we probably had 500 people and last year on Saturday alone we had 600. And a lot of the people that came this year were friends who’ve been coming for a long time,” said Golden.
The decreases did hurt the church financially, said Golden. The church will have to organize more fundraisers this year, which it had planned on when it learned the rally would be much smaller.
“This also probably means that we won’t be able to raise as much for the Relay For Life as we usually do,” said Golden.
The church has been putting on the breakfast since the rally was first established. The event’s success can be measured by how much enjoyment people derive from it. Golden said that she looked out one morning this year and saw bikers and police and regular people all intermingling and she got a great feeling.
“I don’t think the city should be taking money out of the pockets of people by eliminating the rally,” said Golden.
The Hollister Rotary club is possibly one of this year’s biggest losers. At its peak, the service club netted $45,000 for local charities from its annual beer garden. This year it sold tri-tip sandwiches, because without an official rally, they was no approved location from which to sell beer.
“We had to pay $2,400 for everything and I think we made $2,800 so we made $400, but we’ll be lucky if we broke even,” said past president Will Sutton.
The money that Rotary club raised was divided into thirds. One-third went to local charities jointly decided on by the now-disbanded Hollister Independent Rally Commission (HIRC) and Rotary; one-third went to an endowment at San Benito High School established for student athletes; and the final third was used to grant scholarships to students at San Benito, San Andreas and Pinnacles high schools.
It was unclear how the loss of those extra funds would affect Rotary this year, but current Rotary president Dave Baumgartner said that the club would have to reevaluate what groups Rotary will be able to help.
“We always worked very hard for local organizations and when they’re suddenly cut, that’s detrimental,” said Baumgartner. “Now we’re starting from scratch. Some organizations that we’ve given to in the past will have to be reduced or scrapped completely.”
