Not only have they done a lot of fundraising for Telemiracle, they have been picking up a lot of organizational lessons along the way which will serve them well in the future.
The trio at St. Mary's School, Maguire Spilchuk, Jennifer Krets and Jade Ruel are now taking another, bolder step in the fundraising world with the blessing of their school community council and principal Chad Fingler.They know they have a lot riding on the outcome since their original goal was to raise $1,000 for this year's Telemiracle scheduled for March 3 and 4.
The three girls led the organizational charge to raise money with conventional events staged in the school and managed to top the $1,000 mark, but their ambitions have led them onward with the booking of hypnotist Jesse Lewis for a fun family event on Feb. 15.
What they have done is put the funds they have raised to date, on the line with the hope and expectation of gaining it all back, and more, with the Jesse Lewis Hypnosis Show.
"They were willing to make the commitment," said Fingler who sat in on an interview with the three St. Mary's amigas.
"This hypnotist Lewis has performed around here before and everyone who saw the show really liked it. We heard about it from a classmate's mom who saw his show in Lampman," said Jade.
Jade and Maguire, who are often seatmates on a school bus, first hatched the idea of raising funds for Telemiracle while riding to and from their school. They shared the concept last year with Jennifer, their newly-arrived friend from Germany and the idea blossomed after they took the idea to Fingler who suggested that they could get out of the starting blocks with a burst in a new school year ... meaning September 2011.
Since then there have been various events in the school, all focused on raising cash for Telemiracle and the less fortunate folks in Saskatchewan who can use the assistance of the Kinsmen and Kinette Foundation.
So they held a Principal for the Day contest which raised some money and then did a pumpkin carving contest, followed by a straight raffle that in turn was followed by a pie-in-the-face event and a hot lunch project.
"We raised the $1,000, we're at $1,049 right now," said Maguire.
But booking and guaranteeing payment for a professional entertainment act is something else again, and it's been an interesting learning experience for them, they figure, as does their principal.
"They've been taking charge all along and at times it has been pretty stressful for them, especially when so many other kids caught the spirit and everyone wanted to be in on it. They were trying to include everyone and learned pretty quickly they couldn't really do that, they had to start sorting out volunteer jobs," said Fingler, who was close at hand for fielding questions or lending advice when required.
But when it came to organizing for the pies, tables, and participants in the pie-in-the-face event, for example, the girls took on the details, as they did for the raffles and lunch project and other events.
They were given assurance by the St. Mary's School Community Council that they weren't stepping out of bounds, and the council lent some advice when it came time to put a price on tickets for the hypnotist show. Since this is a family focused event, they needed to keep the ticket prices affordable while ensuring that they could still make a profit if the turnout is decent.
"We've committed the money we've raised, and we want to make it a nice public show," said Maguire.
From his home in Watson, hypnotist Lewis said he's excited about being part of the experience that will see proceeds directed to Telemiracle 36.
"It's different. Not only will they be raising funds, but it will be something that will be fun to do," Lewis added.
Lewis's show is fast-paced and contemporary; one that uses a lot of music and some hilarious routines to keep the audience chuckling throughout without embarrassing anyone.
Lewis compares Saskatchewan's dedication to Telemiracle as being one that is comparable to their love of the Roughriders ... two unique Saskatchewan-owned products.
The fun begins at 6:30 on Feb. 15 and will wrap up about 8 p.m. Tickets, priced at $12 for adults, $8 for teens and $5 for children 12 and under are available at Henders Drugs in downtown Estevan or at St. Mary's School on Arthur Avenue.
The girls said two other helper-organizers, Courtney Kanigan and Araya Wheeler, came aboard to help them iron out plans with the various events.
"We wanted one big community event to raise awareness of the importance of Telemiracle," said Jade.
Jennifer, who didn't let her lack of English hold her back, was an early, enthusiastic supporter of the Telemiracle message.
"It was quite impressive. She came into the school comfortable speaking German and Russian and now her English is very good and so is her French," said Fingler, noting how Jennifer is moving forward in the school's Core French program.
The three are hoping that the event is successful so they can get onto the Telemiracle stage and make their presentation in person and they're hoping that Estevan's well-established reputation as being this province's most generous community will come through again.
"They've done it all," said Fingler.
"We've tried different organizational things ... like I started a binder to keep track of things, but that didn't work so well, so I had to do other things to keep track," said Maguire.
"We had some problems we didn't expect," said Jade, such as reaching a decision about what type of entertainment to look for and whether they wanted to seek out corporate assistance or stick with a family-type show where kids of all ages can be entertained along with parents and grandparents.
"It's been a great learning experience for them. They saw what they wanted to do even last year and they're taking it on," said Fingler.
The newly acquired organizational skills will no doubt be an asset in the future for Maguire and Jennifer who are Grade 8 students and Jade who is in Grade 6.
It's one of those educational experiences that isn't in the regular curriculum, but definitely well worth pursuing whenever ambition meets energy and commitment.
