REGINA - For the past 20 years, the Regina and District Kin Club, formerly known as the Regina Queen City Kinettes, has been raising money yearly for TeleMiracle through a fundraising event.
TeleMiracle is an annual telethon run by the TeleMiracle Kinsmen Foundation, with the support of volunteers throughout Sask. The money raised is for people who need medical assistance or equipment.
Erin Christiaens, who is a member of the Regina and District Kin Club and also a part of the TeleMiracle executive committee, talked about planning for the annual fundraiser.
"So it starts nearly, you know, 10 months in advance. And we, you know, bat around a few ideas of different entertainers or different things and getting our venue [ready]."
In the past, the fundraiser brought in bands, magicians, and comedians to entertain people. This year’s theme was retro game night, bringing in Richy Roy, the host of Big Time GameShows.
Christiaens got the idea to bring in Roy from watching his shows on Facebook during COVID-19, which she found to be entertaining. So, she put the idea in her notes for the last few years as an option.
The club had also brought in Roy in the past, so when Christiaens brought him up, they were familiar with his work. So, the club decided to reach out to Roy, and he was available to do the show.
As Christiaens pointed out, "the more interactive [the event is], I find the more that the attendees get value out of the interactive entertainment."
The number of attendees for the fundraiser has grown in the past few years due to the club and it's events being open to anyone. When the club was called the Regina Queen City Kinettes, it was originally only for women. This year alone, approximately 200 people were in attendance to witness the gameshow, Survey Says, which closely resembles Family Feud.
The way the game works is two teams consisting of four people on both sides have to guess the popular answer to a custom-made question.
Another part of the event was a silent auction, which raises money towards TeleMiracle. Christiaens mentioned, "a huge part of what takes a lot of the time in preparation is contacting local businesses to donate prizes [for the auction]."
She also complimented the sponsors in terms of donations, as they far exceeded the amount that was raised during the fundraiser.
Christiaens admitted this year was a struggle to secure sponsors. Some past donors had to back out because of circumstances.
This led to "a little bit of panic in December and early January [regarding] whether we were going to have the level of prizes that we've had at past events.," she said.
Even with those concerns, she mentioned the group kept plugging along. Christiaens has taken three or four days off in the past to talk to sponsors during business hours.
If you asked her why she put so much time and effort into the fundraiser, Christiaens would tell you, "I've always been a community-minded person since my grandparents and my parents were very active volunteers in their communities."
She also mentioned that TeleMiracle played a big role in why she joined the club in the first place.
As for her thoughts on the other members of the club pouring in hundreds of hours to prepare for the event, Christiaens said, "you can definitely see the passion in our club for making it happen. She added, "it's not difficult to motivate our committee and the rest of our club [to get] behind this fundraiser and making sure that it's a success because everybody's got a connection to TeleMiracle and are very passionate about the fundraising for it."
Because of their efforts, in the past 19 years, the club has raised over $132,000 for TeleMiracle. Part of that money raised has even affected those parts of the Regina and District Kin Club.
Christiaens noted one of the members has a medically complex child. The child had heart surgery last year, and Christiaens believes the funds potentially covered the costs of their full expenses, including travel. While the child has recovered from the surgery, they are still dealing with some other complications.
Along with raising money from the fundraiser, Christiaens is hoping more people can be informed about TeleMiracle and what it does.
She noted more people nowadays aren’t aware of it, especially those new to the province. Any information about TeleMiracle can be found on their website.
