Halifax performer Rebekah Higgs is one of many who has a life-saving story as a result of the IWK.

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Nelson Hansen

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It's IWK Telethon weekend once again and this year Saint John will be prominently featured in the telecast with cheque presentations, dedicated volunteers and a headlining entertainer with a unique and remarkable story of how the IWK Children's Hospital saved her life.

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Each year the IWK Telethon reaches out across Atlantic Canada to raise the funds needed to serve children, women, youth and families from the Maritimes and abroad. It's a year of celebration for both the IWK Foundation and the Telethon. With this year being the 100th anniversary of IWK and the 25th of the Telethon, all parties involved have been making every possible effort to ensure that this year's event will be the most successful to date. Those efforts will be especially evident in Saint John as volunteers, staff and entertainers will be giving of their time and talents Saturday and Sunday with events at Market Square being broadcast on the regional show.

Michelle White is the Marketing and Communications officer with the IWK Health Centre Foundation. She's quick to point out that while the IWK is physically located in Halifax, its efforts are felt across our region. "Last year we had 16,065 in-patients discharged and they come from all over. We also had 3,000 patients registered to travelling clinics across the Maritimes. While the building is in Halifax, we're all over the place! Because we see kids and families from across the region pretty much everyone you ask knows someone who has benefitted from the IWK. Everyone has a story."

Among those with such a story is Saint John's Kelly Caines. She is tasked with organizing a crew of at least 150 dedicated volunteers who will give their time to ensure that things run smoothly and the financial goal is attained. "We're really excited that the IWK Telethon is coming here for the third year in a row. We have activities at Market Square and entertainment on the boardwalk. On Saturday night we'll have live entertainment from 7 to 10 p.m. Sunday we'll be having events starting at 10 a.m. and running all day. That's when the Telethon will be cutting to us for entertainment and cheque presentations and that's what we're looking for, more of the larger corporate donations. I work at Kent and they've donated $50,000 the past three years, that's the kind of donations we like to see and the more of those donations that we get, the more times the broadcast cuts to Saint John."

While Caines and the IWK appreciate the tremendous financial support from the corporate community, her eyes tear up at the mention of her large crew of volunteers who will be on hand to get things done. "These people are incredible. A lot of them have been touched directly by the IWK and they want to stay and help for the entire duration, they refuse to leave because they want to give back to an organization that has done so much for them."

Breakfast Televisions' Cyril Lunney will be handling on-air duties for the Telethon from Saint John. He'll be tasked with hosting duties and showcasing local artists like Billy Braydon, the Penny Blacks, Clinton Charlton and the Harbour View Choral Ensemble who bring their talents to the Telethon.

Topping the list of entertainers to appear from Saint John is Halifax songstress Rebekah Higgs. She's not a complete stranger to Saint John as her video for "Parables" was shot in the Imperial Theatre. Higgs is being lauded as one of the East Coast's more talented and eclectic artists to emerge in recent years. Both with her solo work and along her dance project Ruby Jean and the Thoughtful Bees she's won over audiences and critics alike. She's been touring North American and the U.K. with the Thoughtful Bees and is set to record a new album of solo material. This record will be among the first to be recorded in a 100 year old building in Nova Scotia called the Confidence Lodge. The building is being converted into a state of the art recording studio and she'll have the assistance of superstar producer Brian Deck (Modest Mouse). Don't be surprised if we hear a lot more from Higgs in the future.

While her music is something very worthy of discussing at lengths, her involvement with this year's IWK Telethon comes with a remarkable history. As a young girl Higgs had travelled to Belarus in the former Soviet Republic with her parents who were doing humanitarian work. Her family had something in the area of one million dollars in medicine and supplies to be distributed to decrepit hospitals in post Cold War former Soviet nations. Much of it including an older X-ray machine had been donated by the IWK.

Higgs' story from that experience is best left to her own words. "It was 1993 or 1994 and Belarus was downwind from Chernobyl where they had a horrible nuclear disaster in 1986. Because of all of the radiation there was contamination everywhere. The soil was contaminated, rivers, everything. Because we were downwind that contamination had affected our area. I don't know what it was that triggered it, I think it may have been an apple that I ate off of a tree but I came down with severe nitrate poisoning. I had a fever of over 104 degrees, my body turned blue, I developed a heart murmur because of it and m kidneys were damaged. I nearly died. I was lucky enough that some of the medicines we had brought over were actually used to save my life. So I guess you can say that in some weird, international way, the IWK saved my life!"

Higgs will perform at the Market Stage Boardwalk Stage Saturday night at 7 p.m. Higgs will be joined on stage with members of the Thoughtful Bees. Local talent will also be sharing the stage. Sunday the live entertainment begins at 10 a.m. with performances from Billy Braydon as well as other local talents. Families are encouraged to come visit Market Square beginning at noon for lots of family events that Kelly Caines and her crew of volunteers have organized.

Each year the IWK Telethon raises millions across the region to help children, women and families from all over. This year Saint John will be looking to play a larger role in the telethon with a community spirit of giving, a hard working crew of volunteers and an entertainer with a remarkable story of how the IWK saves children's lives.