It was a full house at the Recreation Centre last Thursday night, as families flocked to the New Year’s Eve Benefit Dance to say goodbye to 2015, and bring in 2016, while supporting two families that had faced hardship in the past year.
“I think we were a pretty full house. I’m not sure if we were sold out, but we were pretty close,” said Tammy Yuschyshyn, chairperson for the St. Paul and Community Family Benefit group.
Many of the first-time attendees had positive feedback, saying the event had a familiar and friendly feel, evoking memories of those old country farm dances that the whole family would come out to attend, said Yuschyshyn.
“That’s a real compliment because that’s what we aspire to,” she said.
She was surprised by the amount of support this year’s event garnered – some companies that have donated from day one continued to support the event, while different, new companies stepped up to fill the gap of some lost support, either monetarily or with donations for the silent auction. Also, there were personal donations made, with people calling up and asking, “I want to do something, what can I do?”, said Yuschyshyn, who said these calls were a first for the event.
Over the past seven years, the event has raised $113,619 for families who have faced a hardship, tragedy or loss in the year, and Yuschyshyn said while a total from the last event had yet to be tallied, she felt it could match last year’s total fundraised amount of about $28,000.
Stephanie Stark, who, along with her husband Chad, was one of two families benefiting from the event, said she had known a few families who had received support in the past but had never been able to make it out to the event to show their family’s support.
“I don’t even know how to describe it,” she said of her first-time experience of the benefit dance, which featured live music by Renee Malo. “The atmosphere is amazing.”
A number of relatives and friends came out to the dance to support the Stark family, who suffered a tragic loss with the death of their son Levi earlier in the year. Chad and Stephanie found out they were expecting shortly afterwards, and welcomed Riley to their family of three, along with their son Maverick, on Nov. 29. Since Riley was born six weeks premature, the family had to spend a couple of weeks in Edmonton in the hospital, but were able to make it home in time to settle in before bringing the new year in all together at the benefit dance.
“It’s good to be home,” said Stark, as she sat at the front of the full hall. “I feel very blessed and fortunate to be part of such a good community.”
Terri Bykewich was at a nearby table with her not-quite two-year-old grandson, Brayden. Bykewich lost her daughter, and Brayden lost his mother Terralynn, after she passed away last October following a four-year battle with cancer. Brayden and Terraylynn’s fiancé David Forbes were the second family to receive funds from the New Year’s Benefit dance.
“It’s really nice, very family oriented,” said Bykewich. “Great cause, and I’ll support it in the future.”
That cause is dear to organizers’ hearts, and Yuschyshyn says her children are learning, through it, the importance of helping others, of doing something “just because it’s the right thing to do.”
“If we can give a little bit of that love and support to people we don’t know that are going through a hard time – there’s nothing better than that,” she said.
