Get Kim Iles & Greg Foster back keeping CK healthy

Hi everyone! For those that may not know me, my name is Nicole Abrahamson (or if we want to get more specific...Cattrysse and Iles have also been tied to my name, haha). But I am writing this with a wish, from all of my heart, to help and support my parents; Kim Iles and Greg Foster.

Before I get into the "why", I'd like to fill you all in on a little backstory of our lives:

As a small child, my Mom was a single parent to my younger brother and I. We lived in a tiny little farmhouse as my Mom worked hard to support the 3 of us and to get back on her feet. My Mom would take care of my brother and me, cut 3 acres of grass, grow food, plus work at Sears Canada, just to keep us going. 

By the time I was 11 years old, my Mom had begun her passion of truly helping people and started her first natural health food store in 1993, in our city of Chatham-Kent, Ontario, Canada...and Alternative Choices was born. My brother and I helped unload products and stock shelves as small kids and I saw my Mom grow that business from the ground up…long before natural health became mainstream. She quickly got a strong following of customers and anyone who needed help with their health always seemed to turn to her for their natural choices. My Mom would give up weekends, spend nights reading and learning, and she would share that knowledge and passion with everyone she met. She wrote columns, she gave lectures, and so much more, in order to give back to our community. 

Fourteen years ago, my Mom even started her very own Wellness With Kim Radio Show in order to expand her reach to help more and more people. My Mom would get up every Sat morning at 5:30 am, for so many years, to do this live radio show. With this broadening customer base, I have seen my Mom give tirelessly and answer messages from people at all hours, all days, and sometimes during our family gatherings (and even during our Mom/daughter days).

My Mom and step-dad, Kim Iles and Greg Foster, have the biggest hearts of anyone I know (and I am so grateful they are my parents). She and Greg have done so many things that many may not know about: they’ve rescued countless animals, fought for the stopping of pesticide use on public lands, they are passionate tree huggers and activists. But my Mom was doing these things my whole life and I don’t know life any other way.

Because of this passion for all aspects of life, Greg Foster has recently opened a small Wellness Center in Blenheim, Ontario called Gaia Holistic Wellness . Using a couple of therapies that he has learned, he has found even more ways to help our community in health and wellness.

However, both my parents (or myself, for that matter) did not expect what was to happen next. Due to unforeseen recent events at a place they were both primarily working, they have been terminated and relieved of all duties beginning Sat Jan.12 at 8am EST. This breaks my heart because I watch them both continue being so positive, all while using this to move forward, but I know that this has caused them much stress and anguish at a time in their life that they should be happy and enjoying all that they have accomplished in helping others.

They are now virtually being forced to change their plans and start all over. But this isn’t viewed as a bad thing because I know the success is still possible just by seeing the huge support for them both on social media and beyond. I see the love for my parents that I personally know very well. But at the end of the day, I also know this is posing some severe hardships to get them through. (Losing everything you have struggled for and worked through, and then having the rug pulled out from under you in January (right after Christmas) is a huge burden on my parents).

THIS IS WHERE YOU ALL COME IN:

There are things they need a source of income for in order to truly reach their massive customer base once again…and to be able to continue doing what they were born to do: help all of you to be your best and healthiest selves. However, starting a new business now is a huge stress on my Mom and Greg and isn’t quite financially feasible given the circumstances. So, what I am hoping, based on the tremendous outpouring of support, we can all collectively pool our funds and get their feet on the ground running again. Personally? I have seen numerous dollar figures over my lifetime, and I know it isn’t cheap to start a business from the ground up. They will need things like shelving, advertising, signage, rent and utilities, etc. But most importantly (and what everyone seems to be requesting), they need to purchase stock. (Plus, the obvious personal income in order to survive while the business builds itself). So, whatever we can quickly come up with, would be incredible! Though no amount will truly represent what they are both worth to our community.

I want to thank you all for any support you can offer. Even just sharing this, will help in so many ways! They are rebuilding their vision of helping people to now include a whole new direction they were not intending! But a beautiful new direction it is! And I can’t wait to see what’s ahead for us all with their passion being our guide!