Saskatchewan residents were once again very generous with their support for Telemiracle 44.
The 20-hour fundraiser, which ran from 9 p.m. Saturday night to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Conexus Arts Centre in Regina, raised $5,523,472 for the Kinsmen Telemiracle Foundation, which supports the medical needs of the people of Saskatchewan. The event aired on CTV.
“We are extremely satisfied with the numbers. With the downturn in our economy, it's amazing that we were able to still raise 5.5 million,” said Estevan Kinette and Telemiracle committee member Chelsey Istace.
The Estevan Kinsmen and Kinettes were able to bring $6,000 up to Telemiracle. More than two dozen members of the Estevan Kin Clubs were at the event and helped out in various capacities. Four members of the Estevan Kinette Club were committee chairs: Susan Colbow (publicity), Jacinda Drew (security), Janelle Luddington (finance) and Istace (education).
“We had a fantastic weekend. We had a lot of support from Saskatchewan,” said Luddington, who was responsible for the treasury room this year and who’s been involved with Telemiracle for 11 years.
The security list had about 3,000 people on it, which included cast, performers, production people, volunteers, media and all others involved with the event. Istace said that usually it takes about 1,000 volunteers to make Telemiracle happen.
For Estevan Kinette Fay Bonthoux it was the first time volunteering for the event and it was nothing like what she expected.
“It was a lot more fun than I thought. I thought it would be more work, but it was a lot of fun,” said Bonthoux. “The experience is so unique. And it’s definitely not what I expected, it’s much better.”
She has been involved with local Kinettes for a while and went to Regina with two other members, who’ve participated in Telemiracle before. But in the beginning, she wasn’t sure that she would know what to do there.
“At first I was like, I don’t know what I’m doing. I was kind of apprehensive, I was nervous a bit because I’ve never been (there before), but the girls really helped. They calmed the nerves and really made the transition to actually getting to doing things very smooth,” said Bonthoux.
She chose to answer the phones and said the knockdown was a really exciting experience.
“When they see the phones aren’t ringing as much, they start a knockdown: (volunteers running phones) get up, we all start to clap, and they are talking, saying, ‘Ring those phones.’ As the phone rings, that person sits down … So it’s almost like a wave,” recalled Bonthoux. “It’s just to prompt people to call: now is a good time, phones are not busy.”
Overall phones ring a lot, so volunteers working the phones usually take shifts of 20-30 minutes and then other teams release them for a bit. There were longer breaks when people could take a nap, but in general, the weekend turned out to be really intense. However, the experience was definitely worth it.
“You certainly catch the buzz. Your adrenaline hits when everybody stands up and the knockdown goes. You get caught on the frenzy,” said Bonthoux adding that she would like to participate in the event again in the future.
Even though it is really busy, the Telemiracle is always a great opportunity to meet old friends from all across Saskatchewan and make new ones. And there is always a lot of food to share during the breaks.
The national cast for Telemiracle featured Estevan’s Chris Henderson and local favourites Brad Johner and the Johner Boys. Newcomers for the national entertainers included rock band Toque, which is fronted by former Estevan resident Todd Kerns.
Folk trio Hook and Nail was among the Saskatchewan talents who performed. They were on the stage Sunday afternoon at about 3:45 p.m. and they raised funds for Telemiracle as well.
Luddington also noted that there was a very diverse variety of entertainment, and Bonthoux said that while volunteering she still could see a lot of performances, some of which were mind-blowing like young acrobats or a “majestic” dancing girl.
Many Estevan area residents phoned in pledges for Telemiracle during the 20 hours. Others supported fundraisers that occurred before Telemiracle. Both Luddington and Istace said the overall experience was once again incredible.
“Every part is amazing because without one part the other part just doesn’t exist. It’s the coming together, it’s feeling connected with not only Kin around the province, the cast, crew, Saskatchewan at large. We are a large province, but we are a small community, we’ve got that community seal that no matter what when you need something, we’ve got your back. And it’s a nice feeling,” said Istace. “By the end of the weekend you just have so much joy, can’t believe the generosity that this province has. Even if it was something as small as somebody giving a dollar, every bit of it helps.”
Bonthoux echoed that feeling, saying that the most joyful donation she accepted was $10 given by a little girl.
The money raised during Telemiracle will stay in Saskatchewan to assist people with medical equipment purchases or financial costs associated with treatments.
“At any time if anyone’s in need they can go telemiracle.com and the application form is on the website. If they have any questions or don’t know where to go or if they are not comfortable going to the website, they can get a hold of any Kin member and we can point them in the right direction,” said Luddington.
Telemiracle has also assisted such projects as the dialysis unit and the maternity ward at St. Joseph’s Hospital, the van for SMILE Services and the playground equipment at Westview School and Hillcrest School.
Istace pointed out that they wouldn’t be able to help people in need without the support they receive from the community.
“I just want to thank Estevan and surrounding communities for all the help they give us throughout the year, raising funds for Telemiracle and for the donations they give when the show is on. Without them, we wouldn’t have a show. We appreciate all the funds they gave us during events we had like steak night, Bruins game when we were able to do pass the bucket, our movie afternoon at the Orpheum Theatre for the movie for a cause for Telemiracle and at the OM Yoga Studio, they had their yoga for a cause, which also helped raise funds,” said Luddington.
The preparation for Telemiracle 45 started as early as March 9. The next year’s committee is in place and they already released the logo.
