A dream is about to become reality for one Prince Albert youth following a donation to the Big Brothers Big Sisters Prince Albert chapter.

Thanks to the SaskTel Saskatchewan Dreams Come True corporate challenge, one youth and their adult mentor will have a chance to go on a weekend kayaking trip in northern Saskatchewan. The trip includes lodgings at Elk Ridge Resort, as well as gift cards covering meals and transportation.

“The great employees over there stepped up and raised the money so we could send this little sister on a weekend to Waskesiu,” Big Brothers Big Sisters development coordinator Natasha Thompson said. “She’s always wanted to try kayaking…. We love to be able to expand the world of young people and expose them to new opportunities, and this is one that this little sister had expressed an interest in.”

SaskTel employees got creative with this year’s fundraiser. In addition to regular events life bake sales, barbeques, raffles and 50/50 draws, the group also held a hot wings eating challenge.

Employees were successful enough to not only pay for the kayaking trip. They also donated $490 worth of movie passes to the Prince Albert program.

“We were not expecting all the cinema passes, which is wonderful for the bigs and littles in our program,” Thompson said. “We are always looking for ideas and activities and things for our matches to do together. We generally focus on low-cost, no-cost activities and we do have some passes, however, there are never enough, especially movie passes. Those are very popular.”

Prince Albert Big Brothers Big Sisters was just one of several provincial non-profit groups to receive funding from SaskTel employees. In total, the group gave out $16,000 in cash, as well as $1,200 in gift cards and more than 150 pieces of sports equipment.

Anyone looking to donate time or money to Big Brothers Big Sisters can call 306-922-1299. The organization needs volunteers to help with the Spudnut booth at the Prince Albert Exhibition, which runs from July 30 to Aug. 3.