TELEMIRACLE BRINGS IN $7.1M
Annual fundraiser sets new record
For the first time ever, Saskatchewan’s Telemiracle fundraising marathon cracked the “incredible milestone” of $6 million.
There was another milliondollar milestone to come. By the end of the 20-hour telethon, donors had contributed a total of $7,151,256. The proceeds will go to fund special-needs equipment and medical trips for Saskatchewan people.
The telethon’s largest ever donation — a bequest of more than $1.5 million — helped the fundraiser surpass the $5-million mark by noon Sunday.
“I screamed a little bit because I could not believe we were there,” said this year’s Telemiracle chairwoman, Susan Colbow. “To be there this soon is amazing.
“The money that we have right now is going to help so many people, so many families.”
The total easily beat the previous record of $5.9 million in donations, set in 2012. This year’s event was the 42nd instalment organized by the Kinsmen and the Kinettes.
Musicians, tap dancers, magicians and a multitude of other performers kept the crowd at Regina’s Conexus Arts Centre clapping from Saturday evening all through the night.
“Ring those phones!” attendees chanted on Sunday around noon, just before Telemiracle mainstay Bob McGrath took the stage. McGrath, of Sesame Street fame, had made regular appearances for 38 years up to 2015. But that was supposed to be his last telethon.
The crowd seemed delighted by his return, as was Colbow.
“Wow! He’s back,” she exclaimed. “Bob McGrath is Telemiracle.”
McGrath said it felt like a high school reunion.
“It’s like the very best kind of homecoming you could ever imagine,” he said on stage.
“I feel like this is my family.” Hundreds of volunteers kept the show going, with some working all four shifts. Longtime Kinsman Dan Holmes, serving as facilities co-chair this year, said his tasks become easier as the telethon goes on.
“It should be getting harder and harder as you get tired,” he said. “But it really is just the opposite.”
Holmes started setting up more than four hours before the show started, and planned to be there until everything is put away Sunday evening.
“I’ll be up for like 38 hours by the time I get to crash,” he said.
The highlight of the telethon, for Holmes, was hearing that Philip Thacker, a late member of his own POW City Kinsmen, had left that record-breaking donation.
“There’s a special pride that we feel that he was part of our club,” said Holmes. “He passed away a year ago from cancer and he left a legacy.”
The event is a testament to the generosity of the people across the province, he said. All told, there were more than $6 in donations for every Saskatchewan person.
“Every time you see a story, every time you see the local kids performing, you realize that Saskatchewan really has a special population,” said Holmes. “We’re looking after one another.”