Many community members will not only be ringing in the New Year with family and friends at the third annual New Year’s Eve benefit dance, they will also be supporting two families from the area.
Sherri Corbiere said she and her husband Norm feel “honoured” to be chosen as one of the benefit recipients, in the wake of their daughter’s death. Sixteen-year-old Brittany Corbiere died in a car accident on Oct. 9. “I know that the death of our daughter touched a lot of people but it’s nice to see that people who didn’t know her were also thinking of us and wanting to help us out in the time after her death,” said Corbiere. She explained that the communities of Mallaig and St. Lina were very supportive of the family but added, “it’s nice to see people in St. Paul are also willing to help neighboring communities too.”
Corbiere said that the family will use the money to pay for the funeral expenses. “Not many people have money set aside for funeral expenses of a child and we have a big family,” she said, adding that any money left over will be used for family grief counselling. “We are all still learning how to live with the new normal in the family. The five kids are missing their sister and we are missing a big part of our family.”
The second recipient of the New Year’s Eve benefit will be Natasha Lynn Gelinas and Kyle Krankowsky; their son Dominique requires cochlear implants, a surgically implanted device to help with hearing loss. The devices cost between $40,000 and $45,000 each, which will be covered by Alberta health care. However, the family will have other expenses such as trips to Edmonton for doctors’ visits and possible future repairs to the implants.
Gelinas had earlier said she was thankful for the support of the benefit organizers. “I think that’s an awesome program. I couldn’t believe the community is so open to help the people that need it.”
Jody Lynn Dunlop, one of the organizers for the benefit, said the event is focused on support. “It’s about standing behind a family in a time of need to let them know that we are here to support them at their time of need.”
The event gets underway on the night of Dec. 31 at the St. Paul Abilities Network gymnasium. Doors open at 7 p.m. with Rollie and the Good Timers band starting at 8 p.m. Only 200 tickets will be printed, which will be available at Parent Link and Co-op gas bar. The price is the same as last year: $15 dollars for adults and $2 for children.
Families are encouraged to come out and join in the action. “In fact, every child that walks through the door this year will get a little gift. We are really promoting that it’s a child friendly event,” said Dunlop, explaining that there will be silent auction items and door prizes for children as well as adults.
Dunlop said that organizers have already collected some donations from earlier fundraisers; for example, École du Sommet held a student barbecue with all of the proceeds being donated to the New Year’s Eve benefit, and the SPAN board also donated money.
Dunlop also noted that help would be appreciated on the night, such as people setting up or taking down tables or tending bar for an hour or so. “We are always looking for more volunteers. I can’t stress that enough.”
Dunlop said she wanted to extend a big thanks to the other members of the organizing committee including Tammy Yuschyshyn, Lori Letourneau, Denise Petruk and Roberta Jones for their hard work and to the previous benefit families for “paying it forward” and helping out.
