DEMAINE - The success of last weekend's Telemiracle 48 telethon fundraiser on CTV is being felt around the province, as the annual event brought in an astounding $6.1 million in donations during the 20-hour broadcast.
Efforts from a number of local people and initiatives helped add to that total, including the Dinsmore Kinsmen and Kinette clubs. With the Kinsmen having a steak lunch fundraiser and the Kinettes having a pancake breakfast one, as well as fundraising efforts from Dinsmore Composite School as well as further community support, a total of $1,775.00 was donated to Telemiracle by Jenn Blumer and Kristin Ward, representing the Dinsmore community.
As well, Ella-Rae Malinowski of Outlook, a young girl who has raised funds for a number of initiatives, also appeared onstage to give a donation. Selling reusable feed bags and collecting further donations, Malinowski had a grain elevator standing next to her that represented how much money she raised, which was a total of $3,633.00.
Coming from the community of Demaine to give another sizable donation was Jocelyn Turrell and her nine-year old daughter, Sawyer. Touching on the generosity of people from Demaine - with a population of 17 people - as well as communities that dot the local area, Turrell went over the history of the community's annual auction and raffle events in support of the annual telethon. Over the course of 23 years, the success of events held in the tiny hamlet has raised over $275,000 for Telemiracle, which includes this year's grand total in the amount of $22,000.
"For most, it takes a village, but for us, it takes a hamlet," said Turrell.
