CALGARY – A GoFundMe account set up in honour of Hailey Dunbar-Blanchette and Terry Blanchette on Wednesday raised over $20,000 in less than 24 hours.
Calgary radio hosts Gerry Forbes and JD Lewis launched the page after being contacted by a friend with ties to Blairmore, where Hailey and Terry lived.
“He knew of the family, and after this tragedy happened he called me and said ‘do you think you think you guys could possibly help out?’” said Forbes.
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The men, who work at CJAY92, said the GoFundMe page reached their designated fundraising goal of $20,000 about 23 hours after being created.
“Honestly, we didn’t know if we’d get to $20,000,”said Lewis. “And we definitely didn’t think we’d do it in a day.”
According to Lewis, both he and Forbes became very emotionally attached to the devastating events that unfolded in the small southern Alberta community this week.
Terry Blanchette was found dead inside his Blairmore home on Sept. 14. His two-year-old daughter Hailey Dunbar-Blanchette was taken, prompting an Amber Alert. The next day, RCMP found Hailey’s remains in a rural area.
“We were crushed when we got the bad news,” said Lewis.
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The men are in the process of contacting Blairmore Mayor Blair Painter to determine how to ensure the money will go toward covering the cost of Hailey and Terry’s funerals.
“We wanted to be really transparent about that,” said Lewis. “We want to get this in the most responsible hands possible.”
Both Lewis and Forbes say they’re extremely grateful to everyone who donated.
“Thank you,” said Forbes. “We’re just blown away.”
“We expected an outpouring, but never this, never this quickly.”
Lewis said the GoFundMe account was closed to donations on Wednesday morning after raising over $25,000.
UPDATE: Money raised through the GoFundMe account was deposited into a trust fund set up by officials with the Town of Blairmore on the week of Sept. 28, according to JD Lewis.
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