Local country singer Jamie Woodfin continues to near the exciting finals for the Project WILD program – having landed in the top 12 earlier this year.

It’s an extensive artist development opportunity that may end with a sizable cash award for the popular local artist.

One of the projects that Woodfin has had to coordinate as a part of Project WILD is a fundraiser for a charitable cause.

He selected the Ronald McDonald House as the beneficiary of an about-to-be launched social media campaign, and can’t wait to get the community involved in the tremendous cause.

“Starting on Oct. 8th, we are going to kick off our campaign and run it for a week,” he said, adding it will officially run through to the 15th but folks can certainly donate to the cause beyond that point as well.

Woodfin said they are also trying to bolster awareness about the Ronald McDonald House as well, and that’s going to be done via the extensive social media campaign that features some of the families that have spent time at the House and benefited from the help and support they received there.

“They explain what the House meant to them, and how it impacted them and their families,” he said. “We are going to share some of their stories through our social media and we are going to also reach out to businesses around Central Alberta and anyone who is interested in getting in on this.

“We are also going to be running it through the Ronald McDonald House – campaigns can be set up online through their web site,” he said. “There will be an online link that people can make donations to,” he said.

Woodfin is also grateful to Prospector Visual for assisting with the campaign, as they are helping to cover the videos of each of the family stories from the Ronald McDonald House. “Our target is to also raise $5,000,” he said.

“It’s going to be neat, also because we are going to be sharing the stories of these different people who have used the program,” he said, noting one story in particular about a youngster whose family had utilized the services at Ronald McDonald House. “She unfortunately passed away. Meeting with her family and talking about their story was (hard) but they are also so grateful for the Ronald McDonald House.

“I’m going to be sharing all of these links to the Ronald McDonald House for our charity specifically.” The funds will also be going directly to the Red Deer chapter.

“The goal is also to build more awareness as to what this is, because a lot of people have heard about it, but they don’t really understand all that it’s about.”

Woodfin said that although it costs about $180 per night for a family to stay there, that cost is offset so that the families are asked to only pay $12 per night if they can afford it.

“If they aren’t able to afford that, that is still okay.”

At the wrap-up for the campaign, Woodfin will be performing an acoustic show at the House in Red Deer for the families.

“I’ll also be challenging some others through social media to see if they will contribute, too,” he said. “I want to see if we can create a bit of buzz about it,” he said, noting that via social media platforms, the potential to reach out on a really broad scale is huge.

Meanwhile, presented by Alberta Music and WILD 953, Project WILD is a full-fledged series of opportunities that help to meld an artist in their creative journey.

First off, each artist receives a $5,000 development award along with an invite to take part in Project WILD’s career changing music industry boot camp – an intense one-week workshop to further their skills in performance, songwriting, marketing, media strategy, music business, music accounting, tour strategy and social media.

Following a series of showcase events and online public voting (Oct. 26th to Nov. 2nd), the top three artists will be chosen.

Awards include a $100,953 award for first place, $75,000 award for second and $50,000 award for third.

Woodfin will learn if he has landed in the top three on Nov. 8th. On Nov. 24th, the top three will perform in Calgary and they’ll hand out the cheques at that time.

“It’s been really cool because we are put under some pressure and we are challenged, and for me, that’s probably when I’m going to get my best results with anything I’m doing.”

On a side note, fans will also be able to catch Woodfin when he performs at the upcoming CFR in Red Deer on Oct. 30th and Nov. 3rd.

Find Jamie Woodfin on Facebook to support the Ronald McDonald House campaign.