Issaquah, Sammamish and Bellevue joined forces last Saturday to raise over $6,000 to support Young Life’s Capernaum, a local, youth ministry devoted to serving the needs of those with physical and development disabilities.

The event, “6 Grand Talent Show,” was held at the Foursquare Church in Bellevue and gave Capernaum members the opportunity to publicly display their talents.

Danny Kesl, director of Issaquah/Sammamish Capernaum, explained how the idea transpired.

“It kind of started as just one of the things on the calendar,” he said. “It was a small market thing as just a way for everyone to have fun.”

Four years ago, they decided to take it a step further.

“We were like, ‘let’s get them on stage and share it with the community,’” Kesl said, explaining how there are so many instances where people with disabilities don’t get to be on stage and share their gifts.

After noticing how many people turned out for the event year after year, Capernaum decided to turn the talent show into a fundraiser.

A volunteer-run organization, Capernaum staff said this is their favorite event of the year.

“This is what our volunteers get most fired up for because we can see we’re not the only ones who love seeing these people thrive,” Kesl said.

The event was free and open to the public, however donations were very much encouraged and could be given to a specific talent or in someone’s name. Last year they were able raise about $4,000, so this year their goal was $6,000.

“I am a long time donor and it’s completely changed my life,” said Sally Leist, a Capernaum committee volunteer.

But organizers and audience members made it clear that the event means so much more than money.

Leist explained how the event is just as much for the families as it is for the participants.

“Families that raise special need kids – it’s very intensive. They work hard their entire lives,” she said. “We want to let them know they don’t have to do everything and they’re supported.”

One participant’s mother said the encouragement means everything, to her and her daughter.

“In the normal world, she isn’t much of a rockstar,” she said. “But here, she’s the biggest one.”

Kesl said the most important part of the event is having the participants hear the audience applause. And that applause was plentiful, as more than 100 people packed the church.

“This is the only time in the whole year they get to be spotlighted like this in front of this many people,” said Scott Nelson, associate director of Issaquah/Sammamish Capernaum. “It’s huge.”

The acts were split up by category and ranged from comedy to show-and-tell.

One Capernaum member sang “Amazing Grace” with such beauty it brought the audience to tears. Another participant rocked out to “Life is a Highway.” After each category was finished performing, they were asked to come line-up on stage where they received an autographed $1 bill from talent scout “Ricky Dorn,” also known as Marshall Jamieson, the area director for all of Young Life.

One participant, Grace, who played the cello, took her dollar bill and placed it in the donation basket.

Although half the amount of people attended compared to last year, the event ended up raising $6,371. If you would like to get involved with the organization by becoming a volunteer, committee member or financial supporter, contact Danny Kesl for Issaquah/Sammamish at danny@si.younglife.org or Jen Friesen, director of Eastside Capernaum, at jfriesen777@gmail.com.