Not letting the economy get in the way of a good deed, Calgarians laced up the runners yesterday and stomped their feet to the pavement to the tune of $110,000.
The weather was great for the eighth annual Bell Walk for Kids Help Phone at Eau Claire Market and Calgarians raised more than expected, coordinator Lindsay Schalin said.
“It’s amazing. We did better than last year and better than we thought we would. Calgarians really showed they care about the Kids Help Phone cause,” she said.
“I think it was really a big push at the end and we had a lot of people come up and register right before the walk, which really helped.”
Last year’s event raised about $90,000 in the Calgary area, Schalin said, but this year the city raised the majority of the province’s $195,000 total.
Schalin said the funds come at a much needed time, as last year alone over 98,000 calls went to the Kids Help Phone from Calgary and over 240,241 called in from across the province.
Mother Corolee Jackson brought her seven-year-old son Keenan Cunningham. They enjoyed the day together while participating in the walk.
“I just wanted to teach him if he can’t talk to me or his dad, he can use something like the Kids Help Phone,” she said.
And Cunningham even raised $30 by himself before he took to the stage with the band and practiced his drumming technique.
“It’s just a lot of fun,” Jackson said.
