Golden Friends

"Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same" - Flavia Weedn

Strangers are just people you haven't had the opportunity to meet yet. Myself, I believe that strangers can quickly become friends and friends can quickly become family. I've had the amazing opportunity to meet a lot of strangers through my fundraising, Scouting, and being on social media so often. What always does surprise me is the amount of kindness that I've been shown by so many strangers who have quickly become like family to me. Seeing the generosity that has been offered by so many people on my journey has lifted my spirits on difficult days and inspires me to keep going. 

Gold Reflections in the Bowmanville Mall has been an amazing supporter of my Jacob's Healing Rooms Project. Marilyn, Karen and Ken Easby, the owners of the store, heard of my struggles with Crohn's Disease and plans to make the treatment process better, and jumped at the opportunity to support my charity work to make child-friendly IV treatment rooms at Sick Kids Hospital. The Easby family went to various local businesses and organizations to seek donations for promotional draw items that they could give away as prizes. All of the fabulous staff at the store encouraged customers to get involved in supporting my fundraising efforts. They were able to gather enough donations to host multiple weekly draws from Gold Reflection's 30th Anniversary celebrations in November to Valentine's Day.

In total, Gold Reflections was able to raise $5797 for Jacob's Healing Rooms! This goes a long way to helping to improve the treatment experience for so many kids at Sick Kids. The draws were the perfect example of how a local business can bring the community together to help create a positive change. 

But Gold Reflections wouldn't have been able to pull this event off without the help and support of the many local businesses who generously donated prizes. I'd like to give a shout out of thanks to: 

Kelsey's Restaurant - Bowmanville

Shauna Duff of the Bowmanville Mall

Rotary Club Bowmanville

Dr Doreland at the Oshawa Animal Hospital

GEM Lab.

Rhonda Miller & Ron Baldwin

NEBS FunWorld

Enesco Canada

East Side Mario's Bowmanville

Staples Bowmanville

Hair House (Bowmanville Mall)

Top Choice Nail Salon

Dioro

Nygard - Bowmanville

CJB Insurance

Canadian Tire

Cineplex Theatre Oshawa

Cineplex Theatre Bowmanville

Shoppers Drug Mart Bowmanville Mall

GoodLife Fitness - Bowmanville Mall

And of course, none of any of that would have been possible without the kindness of the people who made donations as they picked up their draw tickets. Thank you SO MUCH to those who got involved in supporting my special project. 

Even my words of thanks are not enough to say how overwhelmingly grateful I am for all the hard work everyone put in to make this event such a success. Thank you Gold Reflections and welcome to Jacob's Squad. Together we're going to make a huge difference!