Melfort's Sheri Meston and her family. (Submitted photo/Sheri Meston)

By Ben Tompkins

Online Fundraiser

Online auction raises nearly $4,000 for local woman diagnosed with cancer

Oct 28, 2021 | 3:08 PM

Sheri Meston, assistant general manager at the Canalta Hotel in Melfort was diagnosed with cancer a few months ago and has since been unable to work, due to complications with her treatments.

Because of the financial stress and strain that these past few months have put on her family, some of her co-workers and friends, including Jenna Belding, put on a two-week online auction that ran on Facebook from Oct. 8-22.

The auction totalled $3,817 (and counting) and was supported by local businesses and individuals who donated items, that were then bid on, with 100 per cent of the proceeds going to Meston and her family.

In an interview done with Meston, she told northeastNOW how she was utterly speechless when she saw the response from the community and how she felt when saw the fundraising totals growing.

“Overwhelming, completely and totally overwhelming. My friends and co-workers Jenna and Beth sort of ran with this online auction and it wasn’t long until there were so many items and people kept wanting to donate and I didn’t know what to think. I’m usually the one organizing these events, it’s hard for me to accept I need help. The kindness from this community and the surrounding communities, it’s hard to put into words. It’s appreciated, I’m grateful, it was so unexpected the result of the auction.”

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Meston also spoke to the importance of these donations, as her family is in desperate need of funds, especially the longer she is unable to return to work.

“I’ve already had five surgeries, I’m looking at at least two and that’s just since the beginning of August. I’m not looking at going back to work until roughly the beginning of the new year and that’s providing there are no more complications. For me and my family, this money is amazing. It means I get to keep my house or my cupboards are still full or my bills are paid. It means I can focus on what I need to focus on and I can take the time to heal, without pushing myself too hard, to go back to work too soon and then end up with complications.”

“It’s peace of mind, it’s hard to put into words what it means. Jenna has come over and someone has bought something from the auction and she puts $80 in my hand and I start crying, just because strangers, a lot of friends too, but strangers are helping me to pay my mortgage. There are just no words for how I feel about it, it’s just amazing the kindness, I can’t say enough about the kindness, it overwhelms me.”

Meston also said how fortunate she and her family are for being a part of the community that they’re in and thanked everyone who was involved or participated in the online auction.

“My husband and I have been married for 26 years, in that time, we have moved several times, we have now for the last 20 years been in the Star City/Melfort area and I never would have expected what’s happened. It’s a very close community, a place that I will never leave. To see a community come together as it has for one person or one family, it’s amazing. It’s a wonderful community to belong to.”

“To Jenna and Beth for coming up with this idea and for all the hard work and time and dedication they’ve put into it, a big thank you to them. Words can’t express just how much these two mean to me and to how much their hard work has really helped my family. It actually looks like I might be able to have a Christmas this year and it’s all because of the community and Beth and Jenna. To everybody who bought from the auction or donated to the auction, the barbeque that friends have done, thank you. All of the help from the community will go a very long way and it’s very much appreciated.”

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter @BenTompkins_8