The 39th annual Share-A-Smile Telethon held on Sunday raised $63,785 for the Okanagan Similkameen Neurological Society Child & Youth Development Centre.
Hosted for the first time at the Cherry Lane Shopping Centre, the event featured an assortment of live entertainment as well as community organizations and businesses stepping up to run the telephone panels.
“It was one of those things where you think, ‘Oh, why didn’t we do that sooner?’ It was fantastic. In the past, we’ve always had it at the centre here and it was great. But I think we just fell into what we know to do and how we do it — so it took a lot of planning and a big, collaborative effort with businesses to move it to the shopping centre but oh my goodness it was very successful. The energy was fantastic,” said said Manisha Willms, executive director of OSNS.
Related: Share-a-Smile Telethon ends with over $63,000 raised
Willms said the venue offered more “opportunity to be collaborative with all (their) partners” and said it couldn’t have been done without the support of the Cherry Lane. She said hosting the event in a public space also helped reinforce that the centre benefits children here in the community every day.
“OSNS has been around doing work for children who need support for 40 years, and having this event at the shopping centre allowed more public to come out and see us. With these events, we’re always trying to raise money, but we’re also trying to raise awareness,” said Willms. “Then people understand that there are many children in the community who need support — not only in funding but in the way of compassion.”
Penticton Minor Hockey was also in attendance on Sunday, helping Save On Foods support the event by taking donations and helping shoppers carry their groceries to their vehicles.
In addition to the live event, the OSNS Child & Youth Development Centre also hosted an online auction to contribute to their overall fundraising goal. The auction concluded at the same time the event did, bringing in $18,297 to add to the overall fundraising total.
Related: Share-a-Smile Telethon moves to Cherry Lane Shopping Centre
“The centre gets money from the government because it’s a pediatric rehabilitation services for straight wages, but then we have to raise money for all the things we need,” said Willms. “So the special equipment that we need, the adaptive playgrounds, all the extras that help us do our job really well.”
Local artist Beamer Wigley played out the end of the telethon, after performances by dance groups from across the South Okanagan, several youth choirs, rope skippers, the Penticton Ukulele Group, and more. Willms noted the event was a learning experience, saying she wished they had put out more chairs for all of the community members who decided to stay and enjoy the afternoon.
“I think our goal was well-reached and we certainly exceeded our goal in terms of having people involved and engaged,” said Willms. “It was such a collaborative efforts with all these businesses, so we can’t say anything but good things about what happened on Sunday.”
— With files from Brennan Phillips/Western News