In the news - Winnipeg Free Press - Sept 19 2010 - Plane Pull Kickoff

$7M down, $11,849,630 to go

By: Lindsey Wiebe | United Way in the News

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Winnipeg Free Press, Saturday September 18, 2010
Reproduced with permission.
Photos: David Lipnowski

Plane-pulling competition launches United Way's annual campaign


United Way campaign chairman Gregg Hanson (front) and the rest of the campaign team pull a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 at the campaign’s launch Friday.
If you want to raise a record $18.8 million dollars, you've got to be able to pull your weight -- plus an extra 191,000 pounds or so.

Hundreds of volunteers showed off their cash-collecting and plane-pulling prowess Friday at the launch of this year's United Way fundraising campaign at Red River College's Stevenson Campus, which featured the seventh annual plane-pull competition.

Organizers pegged the crowd at well over 1,000 people, and many of them took part in team efforts to pull either a 191,000-pound Boeing 727 or a 90,000-pound McDonnell Douglas DC-9.

This year's $18.8-million fundraising goal is $600,000 higher than last year, but early fundraising means 38 per cent of that target, or more than $7 million, has already been collected.

United Way supports nearly 100 partner agencies working in the areas of health, income and education.

Campaign chairman Gregg Hanson, decked out in biker gear, roared up to the plane pull on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle to mark the year's "Be BAD" theme. BAD stands for "buck a day," the amount organizers hope Winnipeggers will think about donating to United Way.

Hanson admitted the adrenalin was pumping after he and the rest of the campaign cabinet managed to get the DC-9 rolling, and said he was happy with the event turnout.

"That's what you call community-building," he said.


United Way campaign chairman Gregg Hanson (front, above) and the rest of the campaign team pull a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 at the campaign's launch Friday. At left, Hanson unveils the campaign's fundraising target for the year.
The DC-9 pull was just for fun, but things were a little more serious for teams tackling the Boeing.

Red River College instructor Jose Leduc thought he and his team of aspiring aircraft mechanics didn't do too badly in the competition, but admitted knowing the inner workings of an aircraft wasn't much help when it came to pulling one.

And Master Warrant Officer Ron Breton, who helped pull the Boeing with a team from 17 Wing, wasn't sure if his military training gave him any competitive advantage.

"I work behind a desk," he laughed.

In the end, StandardAero's team won the competitive pull, lugging the Boeing roughly 15 feet in 8.91 seconds -- not bad for their first time competing.

"It's a lot of fun, and a good, good cause," said Karen Sylvester, manager of payroll and benefits.