The community of Acme has seen their local Legion thrive for the last 93 years, but since the COVID-19 pandemic, the hopes of having another 93 years is not looking good.  

President of the Acme Legion Marina Seaward explains they have faced several challenges. 

“Like a lot of businesses and a lot of service groups COVID was really hard to survive and unfortunately, last year in early February we were hit with another blow where the upstairs tap in our branch let go and a lot of water came through there and it flooded the upper floor and it trickled down.”  

The first thing they did was reach out to their insurance group and brought a flood mitigation company to come in and really start drying the building out so they didn't lose more than they already have.  

“Our insurance has turned us down. They did not receive our cheque, so it was mailed to Ontario and Ontario has had even stricter lockdowns than we had here in Alberta. To this day we still don't know what happened to that cheque. It never cleared the account.”  

The next step in saving the Legion was to remortgage the building but because of the pandemic they need three years' financials which they don’t have because it has been closed.  

“It shows no income coming in, and then it got to the point that the company that we had brought in has taken us to court and sued us and now we need to come up with $40 thousand by the end of the month in order to keep our building or it could be seized.”  

Through the efforts of volunteer hours, and some support from their members, family, and friends, they have been able to almost completely get the upper floor of the Legion ready to open. The Legion has been a huge part of Acme's community, which is why Seaward has started a Gofundme, among other pages to spread the word.  

“Outside of our Gofundme, we do have a Facebook page for the Acme Legion fundraising, and we do have several things going on there, including some raffle ticket sales with some great prizes, and we're starting a 50/50 here right away as well.” 

To support the Acme Legion, you can visit their GoFundMe here. and keep up to date with their fundraising efforts via their Facebook page Acme Legion Fundraising, Save Our Legion.

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