While some donations are still coming on, the Maxine DeHart/Ramada United Way Drive-Thru Breakfast continues to draw the support of the Central Okanagan. 

This year, the event, held Thursday, Oct. 17, raised close to $60,000 in donations to assist local United Way supported community agencies. 

Like the fundraiser that just won't die, the drive-thru breakfast was started in 1998, celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2018 hitting the $100,000 mark, was stopped by COVID, and revived by popular demand for 2022 and again this year. 

Maxine DeHart, a Kelowna city councillor and the single driving force behind the event since its inception, said she felt fantastic about the fundraising total given uncertainties about the economy. 

"Really, to raise more than $50,000 in three hours...how much more can I ask," DeHart said on Friday. 

"The people coming was steady all morning, right from before 6 a.m. until 9:15...the (Ramada) hotel parking lot was jammed solid for three hours. Kelowna came through for us once again."

DeHart extended her appreciation to the brigade of volunteers who helped prepare the breakfast bags.

"All the volunteers who graciously come back year after year to help this event. They keep wanting to come back every year...I am always asked by them when we are doing the next one. I can't thank them enough," DeHart said. 

She also acknowledged the support of sponsors who donated items to the breakfast bags.

"We had so much product this year that it was hard to fit it all in each breakfast bag. When I approached sponsors for their support, nobody said no. Some said they are having a hard time, they're struggling, but they still wanted to give in support of the drive-thru."

DeHart also extended the support she received from her employer, the Ramada by Wyndham, for again hosting the event and setting aside banquet and ballroom room space to help store donated items from sponsors and assist with the breakfast bag packing preparation. 

"We have new owners and it was the first time they had gone through this, so they were amazed at the response and the people who showed up to support us. I think every Central Okanagan mayor showed up at some point during the morning to support us," she said. 

While DeHart has been the driving force behind the event, she views it as a partnership between her and the business community to help those facing difficult times in the community.

She is already facing questions about whether there will be another drive-thru breakfast, and at this point, DeHart is keeping the option open. 

"We can't do it next year because the Marriott tower will be under construction so we won't have access to the parking lot," she noted. "So we'll see what happens beyond that."