Expected impact from Saranac Thursdays delay

Expected impact from Saranac Thursdays delay

That draws thousands.

Saranac thursday's is one of the most popular events of the year... it's also an important fundraiser for the united way.

Due to the coronavirus, the start date has been postponed.

News channel 2's caitlin irla has more on the expected impact.

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None standup - "in just a few weeks, this courtyard likely woul'dve been filled with hundreds of people grabbing a beer and listening to music... all while benefiting the united way.

But-- now saranac thursdays wont start until july 15th.

And the brewery and united way will certainly be impacted by the loss."

"a lot of folks don't realize that when you come to a saranac thursday, you're actually supporting your local united way" for patrons- saranac thursdays is something to look forward too.

It's a time to drink, dance, and catch up with friends.

But for the united way... it's their biggest fundraiser of the year.

"each year we're raising about 35 40 thousand dollars because of this event."

The event is a partnership between united way and fx matt brewery.

Since its inception, over 600 thousand dollars has been raised.

"at the end of the day, all the money, we cover our costs but anything we make goes to the united way and last year i think it was about 42 thousand dollars" now that the event is postponed for at least two months... united way is losing out on a lot of revenue.

"when you think about half of the year being canceled, you can think of half of that fundraising dollar being cut."

But they're working on how to make up for that loss.

"we are working internally to be creative and innovative about how we can come up with new ideas to help offset that fundraising cost or fundraising miss."

As for the brewery...it was a tough call... but the right one.

"i think it's the right thing""obv it, this is big event fus, it'sr charity, united y but it'a time we ke to come andrink withur friendso for me 's kind osad."

Matt ishoping foe think's that there's a chance the courtyard could stay like this throughout the summer.

"i don't know if that happens or not, obviously i'm hopeful but we will not do anything that's not safe for us the community, anybody that comes."

"if we can do it we will take precautions to be safe" in utica caitlin irla nrws channel 2.

> mvhs is excited to resume the very