SPEAKER_00 0:00

Good afternoon, Bluffs Country. I'm Peggy Sweet, and this is Belonging in the Bluffs, brought to you by the Iowa West Foundation. I'm joined in studio with my good friend Connie. She is the chair of Friends of Westfair committee. How are you, Connie? I'm good. It's good to be back, Peggy. It's great to have you back because you always bring me all this exciting news about your phases and the donations and what you have going. And I know you've got some exciting news. So I'm just going to turn it over to you and you just take it away.

SPEAKER_01 0:29

All right. Um, we do have big news. So our phase one goal on the Westfair Capital campaign is to update our infrastructure and to build an education and expo building. Price tag is 10 million bucks.

SPEAKER_00 0:42

Right. And we're over halfway. And that's fantastic. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 0:46

It was a long winter with a lot of momentum this spring. It's been really fun. So we're at 5.2 million towards our $10 million goal, which is fabulous. I'm super proud of us. It is. Halfway there. That's incredible. That's a lot of money. That's a lot of money. And wait, there's more. Okay, of course. So our friends at the Iowa West Foundation have announced a match for the next $2 million. So for everyone who makes a contribution between now and the end of September, um, their donation will be matched dollar for dollar. So your $20 becomes $40, your $100 becomes $200, and so on. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 1:22

It's incredible. Oh, how amazing. That what a generous donation. That is awesome. I mean, it that makes me feel really good because it's doubling everything that I'm giving. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:32

Right. So if we're at $5 million now, if we get to $7 million, that takes us to nine. And then some state funding kicks in, and we have options that are different at 9 million than they are at 5 million. So it gives a lot of wind in our sales on this capital campaign. And to do great updates for um for West Fair.

SPEAKER_00 1:50

You're going to be started on that before we know it. Yeah. That'll be great. I can you imagine where we're going to be this time next year?

SPEAKER_01 1:56

It's super exciting to think about like a building going up and the water and power being upgraded. So it's we have a lot to look forward to and we have a lot of work to do. Right. Um, but we have a lot to look forward to, and generational updates are on their way at Westfair. Okay. And we make these donations how? Do we go to your website or where do we go? Right. The best ways to um make donations are to reach out to us at friends at Westfair.org. Um, you can also go to the website at westfair.org/slash spirit of Westfair. Um, we have a partnership with the Community Foundation for Western Iowa. They will be receiving our donations and we'll open up like a credit card option um the first of June. But we're still having conversations with families at this point and so and so excited to announce this match. Right. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 2:46

Again, you can do that at friends at Westfair.org.

SPEAKER_01 2:49

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 2:49

You can also do that at the Community Foundation.

SPEAKER_01 2:53

From the Community Foundation site, you can access the Spirit of Westfair expendable fund and you can make a donation there. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 3:00

Awesome. And then we can find all the information on the phases and all the things that you're doing at Westfair.org, right? That's right. Fantastic. Yeah. I can't wait to see how quickly this is go goes. Our community is amazing and they just embrace each other so much. I have a feeling you're going to you're going to be going for that state funding before you know it.

SPEAKER_01 3:20

Right. I hope to be back soon with lots more good news. But we um we have a couple big events this summer that'll be fun. We've got a new demo derby that we've never hosted before. That's on May 2nd, the Frostbuster. Um, and mark your calendars for Westfair 2026, which is um July 22nd through the 27th. And that is the fair. Yeah. I can't believe it's almost fair time. It's gonna be summertime, it's gonna be hot as blazes, and we are gonna make some progress out there.

SPEAKER_00 3:48

Yes, and it's gonna be great. And if you would like information on all of this, go to westfair.org and to make a donation, friends at westfair.org. That's a ticket. Connie, thank you so much for this great news. Uh, we'll see you before the fair and talk about all those things, and you can let me know the updates of where you're at for fundraising so far. Sounds good. Can't wait. This has been Belonging in the Bluffs, brought to you by the Iowa West Foundation.