As midnight approached, children were still swinging each other around and stomping their feet as music from the Retro Rockets fired up the hall and the minutes ticked down on 2014.
The year 2015 came in to the release of balloons and celebration at the Recreation Centre, as St. Paul and area families showered support to five families that community members thought deserved the extra help.
This year saw the biggest reaction to the New Year’s Eve Family Benefit event yet, said Lori Letourneau, a member of the St. Paul and Community Family Benefit group. The group puts on the event each year to raise funds for local families that have had personal tragedies and medical challenges in the past year.
“I’ve been in this since the very beginning, seven years ago, and this year blew my mind. This year, we were sold out a week in advance,” she said. After the sell out, which included more tickets sold than years previous, people were crawling social media to find extra tickets. “That was such a good feeling, to see people crying to come to our event and support these families. That was so awesome.”
The group pre-raised the money to cover all expenses associated with the event, through things such as barbecues and bingos held throughout the year, so that all money raised from the event itself, including ticket sales, donations, money from the silent auction, and the 50/50 draw went to the families.
The group will be releasing the amount of money raised this week, at which time board members will also present the money to each of the families.
The families receiving help this year include the families of Alycia Stepp, Ally Berezanski, Debra Diamond, Adrian Dunkin, and Ashley Kennedy.
Berezanski lost the twins she was carrying this July, followed by problems with pancreatitis and surgery to remove her gallbladder, while Diamond lost her husband to a vehicle accident. Dunkin is a single father who has faced trouble working due to medical issues, including congestive heart failure, blood clots in his lungs and problems with his hips and back. Kennedy’s children have had health challenges, and while she and her partner were expecting a child this year, complications arose during delivery and their son Decklyn passed away.
The event turned out so well, thanks to the “fantastic” work of the committee and to all the people that came out for the event and supported the families, said Dunkin. “I felt really privileged that we were chosen to be a part of it.”
Stepp was nominated as she and her husband took in their niece and nephew into their family of five this year, and helped them through medical challenges including the diagnosing of her niece with diabetes and her nephew’s cleft lip and palate.
“It has been very powerful to watch our children witness the kindness and generosity of our community,” Stepp told the group. “These virtues cannot be taught without the example. Our children have seen how these blessings have moved and affected us, as parents, and I believe that they'll be more thoughtful because of it.”
