UNITY — Unity’s Kin Club is readying for Telemiracle 48, one of their biggest service club commitments of the year.
Nora Aldred serves on the board of Telemiracle Foundation and she has helped lead the club through several fundraising endeavours for the annual Saskatchewan telethon.
The club has been praised for their fun-raising event at Christmas, featuring the Bad Carollers. The club set out Dec. 13 to share the best, and worst, of their singing talents. People could pre-pay $5 to send the Bad Carollers to a specific house with a wide range of other donation options that would either get them to leave, not return or go to someone else’s house.
Their inaugural efforts earned around $800 towards their Telemiracle fundraising goals. Residents shared their appreciation of the Kin Club's efforts through multiple social media posts. The popularity of this event has the Kin Club considering extending this to two nights next time.
Next up for the club was another first-of-its-kind event known as the Duck Derby. The club sold 250 ducks, putting 50 ducks in each race with an elimination-style draw that finished with three winners. The event also included kids’ activities, a concession and the added attraction of local celebrities offering themselves for a pie-in-the-face sacrifice. Dan Feser of Northwest Terminal; Gerald Hauta, CEO of Unity Credit Union; UCHS teacher, Kyle Wood, and Mayor Sharon Del Frari offered fresh faces to the fundraising cause.
The afternoon event certainly quacked people up with plenty of smiles and jovial moments. While there is no official total yet, it is known that $3,280 was raised from the ducks and another $1,000 from pies and concessions.
To get residents in the spirit, Telemiracle Teddy was on hand throughout the day, walking around downtown, stopping for a visit at SODC dance studio and adding his celebrity presence to the Duck Derby.
Duck Derby chairperson, and new Unity Kin Club member Breanna Elder, told the Press-Herald and SASKTODAY.ca, “There was lots of socializing even with a smaller crowd and the kids all had fun. It was an overall successful fundraiser.”
Elder said some of the highlights were Telemiracle Teddy in attendance, as well as lots of community involvement with the pie-in-the-eye event.
Delta Co-op Agro won the corporate duck while Scott Gilbert was pulled as first place winner. Ashtyn Alexander was second and Sandra Porsnuk won third.
“There were not many challenges to hosting this event. I have had lots of experience with event planning with my prior committee involvements so it was a pretty easy transition to plan this event. I had lots of help from our community and I really enjoyed my experience chairing this TeleMiracle fundraiser.”
“People can also drop off their donations at What The Float or try and catch me to make arrangements for their donation as I have temporary receipts I can issue right away,” Kin Club president Aldred, adds.
Because the club is also involved in many other events, these two activities were their commitment to Telemiracle fundraising. The club acknowledges resident, Allan Buckley, who did a TM fundraiser on his own by getting sponsors to ride his bike around town and Unity Kin Club volunteers will be taking that donation into the live show.
Unity schools are also a big part of the community contribution for TM48. UCHS, UPS and St. Peter’s Schools have held and are holding various activities with proceeds earmarked to TM. At press time, Aldred was unsure if the schools would be sending their donations to Regina along with the Kin Club or setting up an on-air presentation for their donations.
Kin Clubs across the province noted that often when the telethon date draws closer, businesses, groups and individuals hold either impromptu or quickly planned fundraisers to help aid their community club’s fundraising total.
Residents say seeing stories of recipients through social media and Telemiracle website about funding from the Kinsmen Foundation, such as for Unity resident Robyn Silvernagel, helps renew their desire to contribute each year.
Unity Kin Club, in addition to their dedication to TM fundraising, has served in several other efforts this past year that included lighting the path at the cenotaph in honour of Remembrance Day, in addition to volunteering all year for craft creations to fill Santa’s Hut held during Winter Wonderland, providing children the opportunity for low-cost Christmas shopping for their family. This activity raised money that was donated to all schools for playground fundraising initiatives. The Sled Shed is another community service offering thanks to Unity’s Kin Club.
For the first time since pre-pandemic, Telemiracle announced they will be including a live audience for the 20-hour telethon. This is something avid viewers and supporters said they missed, as it aids in ramping up the energy of the show.
Telemiracle will broadcast live from Regina Feb. 24-25, for 20 hours straight. Telemiracle 47 raised $5.5M making $158M raised since its first show in 1977. “Where are we going? Higher!”
