A friend in need is in good hands when you are Suzanne Muller.
The Morinville woman was one of a group of people who stepped up in a huge way when a mutual friend took ill recently. Todd Kemps, a 48-year-old man from St. Albert, was just diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. Rather than take the news sitting down, Muller got together with some of Kemps’ friends and decided to put on an event to help raise money for him and his wife and five children.
The result of that planning is a big party tonight at St. Albert Parish. It will feature some great blues-rock music and a silent auction to get a good crowd out. According to Muller, that mission is already accomplished. Days before the event, she was already anticipating a full house.
“We’re thinking we’re going to have way too many people,” she stated. “We are already feeling like we might have quite an attendance! The people that have just come together for this has just been amazing. Our capacity is 250. I think we’re going to reach that nicely.”
She finds that reassuring.
“It just puts faith back into people. It’s so awesome. People have been so generous, just to help out this family.”
She added that Kemps is very well regarded in the community and not just by friends.
“Todd is a hands-on dad. He is all about his kids and his family. Such an upbeat guy and a good person ... you just can’t help yourself but want to surround yourself with that type of person.”
Kemps will likely be surrounded with love himself at tonight’s event. Originally the group of organizers and friends thought about holding a simple get together but that quickly expanded into this full-blown fundraiser.
“We knew that Todd was going to need time to focus on spending time with his family and figuring out what to do with his illness. We wanted to just help them out so they didn’t have to worry about if they needed something they could have it.”
Right now, she hopes that she doesn’t have to turn anyone away at the doors.
If you are unable to get into the event but still wish to contribute to the cause, you can make financial donations either by cash or cheques payable to Todd Kemps. An account has been set up at Servus Credit Union at 565 St. Albert Trail. You can also donate via PayPal and use the address [email protected].
