A pair of fund raisers this past weekend raised over $12,000 for Big Brothers Big Sisters Pembina Valley, which serves the cities of Morden and Winkler as well as the town of Altona. 

A 24-hour rowing machine event in Altona generated the majority of that cash, coming in at $10,000.

Executive Director Michael Penner explained that teams rowed a total of about 1,819 kms - the equivalent distance from Altona, Man. to Vernon, B.C. - within that 24 hour span.

Meantime, the Pembina Hills Art Gallery in Morden served as the backdrop to BBBS's 2018 Big Night Out event. 54 people attended the fund raising dinner Saturday evening and contributed $2,500 to the organization.

Penner said it's gratifying to see these new partnerships come together.

"It's so encouraging to see how generous people are and to see how they want to make their community a better place, and just jumping on board and helping out."

He explained that this new money will help support current matches between 'Bigs' and 'Littles', as well as efforts to recruit more mentors.