Excitement fills the air as TeleMiracle 48 draws near

The lights are up, the stage is built and soon the phones will be ringing for the 48th installment of the Kinsmen TeleMiracle.

The Viterra International Trade Centre is buzzing as the TeleMiracle team continues their work in setting up for the big day.

“We’re so excited to bring so many aspects of the show back live this year. Our national cast is all live, our band is coming back, we have [an] audience again, a lot of things we’ve missed since the [COVID-19] outbreak,” said Kinsmen Chair, Raelynn Nicholson.

This long-standing tradition features 20 hours of performances broadcast provincially to encourage viewers to “ring those phones” and donate to the Kinsmen Foundation.

The Kinsmen Foundation then allocates that money throughout Saskatchewan to provide help such as specialized mobility and medical equipment to residents in need. The organization also assists in travel for those needing medical care outside their home community.

Since its inception in 1977, the program has raised over $159 million.

“Saskatchewan is just a really big small town as a whole. You don’t go anywhere where you don’t know someone that has been helped by TeleMiracle at some point in their lives,” Nicholson said.

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“People want to give, people give because they can, they give because they care and they know that people around them in their community are giving and they also know that they’re helping people in their community and the next community over,” said Jeffery Straker, who has been hosting the program for 14 years.

“Every dollar stays right in Saskatchewan.”

The stage for TeleMiracle 48 is being set up at the Viterra International Trade Centre in Regina. (Hallee Mandryk / CTV News)

Straker said the impact of the program sinks in a bit more for him each year.

“Reaching all across Saskatchewan, the dollars come in to the phone bank behind us here that’s being built and they help people right across the province and when you really internalize that, it’s a big thing,” he explained.

A total of $5,519,229 was raised during last year's TeleMiracle.

TeleMiracle will be kicking off at 9 p.m. on Saturday and running until 5 p.m. on Sunday, and will be available to watch on CTV.