Sunrise House in Grande Prairie has received $415,000 after a massive showing of star power and charity at the 10th annual Big Hearts for Big Kids fundraiser.
Sunrise House Program Manager Charity Neilson says she was overwhelmed when the final tally came in on Saturday night, and days later, they’re still having trouble processing it.
“It’s incredible to see the community support for the work that we do and to just raise the awareness of the need here in Grande Prairie. Honestly, we’re just blown away and still speechless from the event.”
Sunrise House is the only dedicated youth shelter in Grande Prairie and relies heavily on donations throughout the year. Neilson says the donated funds will take a massive bite out of their operational budget for the year.
“We’re not core funded like the adult shelters, so we do end up having to fundraise quite a bit of our main budget for the year.”
Country music star Tenille Townes, fresh off her haul of hardware at the CCMA’s was the headline act for the evening. She even made mention of Sunrise House in a Facebook post after her four award night, saying “tonight on the screen behind me, are five incredible girls who have stayed at the Sunrise House, the youth emergency shelter in my hometown,” she said.
“They are now mothers, graduates, business owners and travellers. I am so inspired by their stories and it meant so much to have them be a part of the performance tonight,” she added.
Big Hearts for Big Kids is the annual concert fundraiser for the Grande Prairie Youth Emergency Shelter.