Kinsmen Foundation Inc. is a registered charity in Saskatchewan. As a “funder of last resort”, it provides financial assistance to Saskatchewan residents with a valid Saskatchewan Health card (or Alberta Health card, for Lloydminster residents only) to cover the cost of special needs equipment, to improve quality of life and independence; as well as travel assistance (transportation, meals, and accommodations expenses) to access life-saving medical treatment outside of ones community.

All funds used for Kinsmen Foundation grants come from donations made through TeleMiracle (the annual telethon).

The Kinsmen Foundation is not government funded.

The Kinsmen Foundation is a funder of last resort. Which means, if you are able to self-fund, crowd-fund, or have other avenues of resources, please utilize those first, before applying to us. Otherwise, all individuals with a valid Saskatchewan Health card are eligible to apply. Exception: Residents from the Alberta side of Lloydminster can apply for funding with their Alberta Health card.

Regardless of age, anyone that holds a valid Saskatchewan Health card is eligible to apply (or an Alberta health card if a resident of the Alberta side of Lloydminster).

To our knowledge, Saskatchewan is unique in that we are the only province in Canada that holds such a telethon like TeleMiracle. All funds raised at TeleMiracle are used to help Saskatchewan residents only. With one exception, the border city of Lloydminster, all residents of Lloydminster are welcome to apply.

The Kinsmen Foundation considers applications from Saskatchewan residents (including all Lloydminster residents) to access medical treatment outside their community, including out of province or out of country, provided all treatment is covered by Saskatchewan Health.

The Kinsmen Foundation considers application from individuals for special needs equipment and/or travel assistance (transportation, meals, and accommodations) to access  medical treatment outside of their home community; group homes for special needs equipment; as well as, institutions and health foundations to purchase specialized, new or innovative equipment to improve health care.

The Kinsmen Foundation Board of Directors holds nine meetings per year (No meetings in March, July or August). Decisions are made during these Board meetings and applicants are notified shortly after by a phone call, email, and/or a letter.

The Kinsmen Foundation does have an emergency process for medical travel funding only. In the event the medical appointment is prior to our next Board meeting, we can process the application as an emergency. The typical response time, upon receipt of ALL the required information, is within two business days.

The two most common reasons for applications not being approved by the Board are 1) What’s being requested in the application does not fit in our mandate (ie reimbursement for utility bills, medications and other consumables, etc.)   2) We are not the funder of last resort (a.k.a. other funds are available elsewhere.).

If you or your loved one received funding for the purchase of a piece of equipment and that equipment, for whatever reason, is no longer needed. If it’s still clean, functioning, and not too much wear and tear, you can donate it to someone else.

Some ideas of places to possibly donate it to are care homes, hospitals, another individual who needs it, etc.