Local communities rally around Love4Levi
December 2, 2020, 11:36 am
Victor van der Merwe, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Fundraising has brought in tens of thousands of dollars for Levi Jamieson’s family.
Last month, Levi Jamieson and his friend Zayn Leslie got into an accident. Leslie escaped with minor injuries, but Jamieson had to be rushed by STARS ambulance to Regina. Once there it was decided to fly him to Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon. Recently Jamieson has been moved back to the hospital in Regina. Although he is stable at this time, it is clear there is going to be a long recovery period ahead for him.
When people in the communities in the surrounding area heard about this, there came a wave of support for the family.
A cow pie bingo was organized to get Jamieson’s live stock involved in fundraising. There was also a Conexus credit union account set up under the name Love 4 Levi where people could simply deposit donations. Two local hockey teams and two local businesses also showed their support for Levi and the Jamieson family and the disbanded Predators softball team came out one last time show why they were champions.
Cow pie bingo
With strict regulations on large gatherings, it has been tough coming up with ideas for fundraisers. Alana Webb took on this challenge and decided that live streaming a cow pie bingo event on Facebook, might be an interesting way to raise some money for the Jamieson family.
“It only seems fitting to get the cows involved to help raise money,” said Webb.
The event was originally scheduled to be live streamed on Facebook on Sunday November 8, but due to an ice storm that was forecasted on that day, cow pie bingo was moved to Wednesday, November 4.
“We switched it to a nice day, which was fine,” said Webb.
The location for the cow pie bingo was Ja-Lyn Farms located about four miles east of Welwyn, and was attended by Alana Webb who helped organize the event and Brooke Lowes who is part of the Ja-Lyn Farms crew. The Jamieson family was also represented by Levi’s brother Devon Jamieson, his sister Cheyenne Jamieson, his sister-in-law Stacy Jamieson, his uncle Keith Turpie and even his niece and nephew were there for the event.
“They actually ended up bringing Levi’s animals. They brought some of his dairy cows and his horse Buddy, two of his heavy horses and his sister’s 4-H heifer,” said Webb.
For two hours the animals were alternating in the area where the squares were set up for the event. Sadly, Levi’s animals became camera shy.
“Not one of the animals had a poop. It was really funny. We dragged it out and then said okay this is getting too long. Then Brooke went and got one of her heifers out of the feed lot. It pooped three times before it came in the rink and walked in and instantly had a poop and it was done,” said Webb.
One of the nice things about the virtual event, was that Levi could see what was happening as he face-timed his friends and family who were at the farm.
“Of course, Brooke had to tease Levi about it, because it was one of hers. But it was awesome, we had lots of fun,” said Webb.
The event was not just a lot of fun, it was also a huge success.
“Thursday morning I went and got a cheque wrote for $11,270 and then I still had a few late donations come in, but that was the initial amount,” said Webb.
The cow pie bingo money will be added to the ‘Love 4 Levi’ account set up through Conexus Credit Union.
‘Love 4 Levi’ Conexus account
The idea of the ‘Love 4 Levi’ account came from Lindsey Miller who saw it as the simplest way to raise money during a pandemic. Once word got out, people from as far as Saskatoon responded.
“It has been super successful. People have definitely come together. We have had people from all over donate. I actually had someone call me from Saskatoon. He is originally from Ontario. He had called me because he had seen our article in the World-Spectator. He just wanted to call and tell the family that he had a grandson in Ontario that went through the same thing. His grandson was in an induced coma for months and so this kind of hit home for him. He actually donated money and he doesn’t even know the Jamieson family whatsoever. He just donated to the cause, because it really hit home for him. He was quite emotional, it was a tough call to take,” said Miller.
The gentleman from Saskatoon was one of many people who sent in donations to the account.
“Everybody has been so generous. Every day I look at the account and it is amazing seeing that during these tough times people are still willing to help out this family. It has been very humbling seeing the response from the community,” said Miller.
The account has raised over $10,000 just through deposits and that amount will grow extensively with the funds from the cow pie bingo and other fundraising efforts in the area.
“I had all these big ideas to do things, but with COVID-19 right now it is so uncertain that we just knew that something like this would be successful, because you would not have to worry about things being cancelled. I think what we have done so far is pretty big. It is not to say that in the future we wouldn’t think of doing something else for them, because we are sure Levi has a long recovery ahead of him,” said Miller.
Moosomin Rangers
On Friday, November 20 and Saturday November 21, the Moosomin Rangers played the Rocanville Tigers. Both teams used their respective home games to raise money for the Love 4 Levi fundraiser.
“The Jamiesons have been involved with the Rangers for numerous years. All three of Levi’s older brothers played for us and they have been good supporters of our team, and we just thought that we should do something for them and it was mentioned that we should donate one of our 50/50 draws. We thought that this would be a good series to do it. So I talked to Rocanville and they were all for it and so we hooked up together,” said Peter Nabholz, G.M. of the Moosomin Rangers.
The 50/50 draw held at the Rangers home game that Friday raised $1,040.
The winner of that nights draw was Tyrell McCaw. He donated his $520 back to the Love 4 Levi fundraiser.
With such a great response from the Moosomin Rangers fans, Nabholz will gladly help in the future if need be.
“We are happy with the 50/50 and if down the road it looks like they need more help, we will certainly be there to support them,” said Nabholz.
Rocanville Tigers
Game two between the Rangers and the Tigers happened in Rocanville on Saturday November 21 and again there was a 50/50 to help raise funds for Love 4 Levi.
“The Jamiesons have always been family friends with players on the Tigers. We have always known the Jamiesons. Moosomin and Rocanville have always been “rivals” and so we thought it would be fun to get together and put on a 50/50 and put the proceeds towards Levi. Moosomin reached out to us. Our head coach, Jeff Odgers, talked to Peter Nabholz and they got together and discussed it and thought we could raise the money through our 50/50 for both games,” said Cassidy Robidoux who volunteers with the Rocanville Tigers.
The two teams may be rivals on the ice, but when it came to supporting a family in the community, Rocanville hockey fans stepped up.
“We managed to raise $745 and Amanda Howie was the winner. She donated her portion back to Levi,” said Robidoux.
Just like the Moosomin team, the Rocanville Tigers are standing by if the Jamiesons need help in the future.
“As for right now, we don’t have anything planned, but that is not to say that there won’t be anything coming in the future,” said Robidoux.
After the game on Saturday, Rocanville and Moosomin presented the two Jamieson brothers currently on the Rangers team with cheques.
“Devon and Tyson Jamieson both play on the Rangers team, so we presented them with the cheques,” said Nabholz.
Nixon Electrical Service Ltd. and Holar Electric
Two local business also decided to help out the Jamieson family.
Nixon Electric. based in Moosomin, offered to match the amount raised at both hockey games’ 50/50. They wrote a cheque for $1,845 to be donated to Love 4 Levi.
“I’ve know the Jamiesons and all their kids since they were young. The Jamieson family has supported just about everything I can think of, they are great people and I just wanted to lend some support back,” said Dale Nixon owner of Nixon Electric.
Along with the generous donation, Nixon had kind words of support to offer the Jamieson family.
“I’d like to let the Jamiesons know, and I am sure they do, that the whole community in the area is behind them and that they should stay strong and keep believing,” said Nixon.
Braden Arnason who owns Holar Electric based in Whitewood also donated $250 to the fundraiser.
“I heard about it through the senior hockey teams. They where donating the 50/50 funds from both our games and I talked to my wife and we both decided to pitch in a little money to help out,” said Arnason.
Arnason is also a defenseman for the Rocanville Tigers.
“I know Levi’s brothers through social circles and working with them. We just decided we would help them out. They are a great family, you don’t hear many bad things about them, so when a person can help out another good person, I always try to do that. I hope Levi keeps his spirits up and anything that we can help with, don’t hesitate to call,” said Arnason.
Predators softball team
The Predators, an all girl softball team that used to be based out of Moosomin between 2006 and 2018 has reemerged in support of the Love 4 Levi fundraiser.
“I coached and managed a successful girls softball team from 2006 to 2018. The Predators was our name and the Jamiesons were huge supporters of our team with their daughter Cheyenne being a part of our 2014 Western Canadian Championship team,” said Dale Nixon.
The team that was comprised of players from all over the southeast corner of Saskatchewan no longer exists, but their legacy remains and so does money from some of their fundraising efforts over the years.
“Our club had some funds from all the years of fundraising left over so I got my coaching partner, Peter Nabholz, and a few of the long time Predators together and we decided to give $5,000 to Love 4 Levi,” said Nixon.
Those who wish to donate to Love 4 Levi account can go to any Conexus branch in the area or e-transfer funds by e-mailing lovefourlevi@gmail.com.
For more information, people can call Lindsey Miller at 306-434-6776. There is also a Facebook page called ‘Love 4 Levi’ that people can visit and show support. Tweet