Concert raises nearly $2,400 for ALERT

Flathead High and Kalispell Junior High School choirs helped raise $2,368.11 for ALERT last weekend.

For a good song and story, a packed house attending Friday night's "Saving Jacob" concert pitched in when the bucket was passed for the rescue helicopter program.

"I had no idea what to expect, because we haven't had anything like this in a long time," Lori Alsbury said.

"I thought it was very generous of them to do that."

Alsbury, Kalispell Regional Medical Center's community relations spokesman, addressed the concert crowd, then members of the choirs passed donation baskets.

Alsbury said the money will go toward the ALERT program's endowment fund.

ALERT's helicopter crew was a crucial element in saving the life of 3-year-old Jacob Feightner after a canoeing accident on the Flathead River's Middle Fork late last May.

It was one of more than 10,500 flights the rescue helicopter has made since it began flying in 1975. Of those, more than 1,000 were flown for patients - like young Jacob - who would have died without ALERT's services.

The concert was a response to the dramatic story of Jacob's ill-fated canoe trip with his father and brother, his two hours without any life signs despite heroic efforts to resuscitate him, then his full recovery to a healthy 4-year-old boy today.

Flathead High School choir director Kevin Allen-Schmid pulled together a program of contemporary, classical and gospel songs as a musical illustration of the story.

The concert closed with a video of Jacob sending his thanks and greetings to the people of the Flathead.

He and his parents, Lori and John Feightner, and his big brother Jonathan will be special guests at the annual ALERT banquet on April 23.

It's the prime fund-raiser for the program, Alsbury said, and typically raises about $70,000.

Reporter Nancy Kimball may be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com