Hi, my name is Ellen Eaton and I'm Melissa and Emily Eaton's Aunt. I'm fundraising for them, in honour of their late Mom, Sabina Eaton.

Sabina passed away peacefully January 6, 2026 having fought a courageous battle with cancer for several years. Life threw her a curveball when she was diagnosed with cancer just 2 weeks after retiring from the City of Toronto as a Foreman of Ground Crews, in charge of many of the city's gardens. Her initial diagnosis was lung cancer that shortly metastasized to her brain. After months of treatment, including invasive radiation and rehab, she returned able to continue fighting cancer. Immunotherapy along with chemotherapy was recommended and that kept her well with cancer at bay until recently, when treatments were not tolerated and caused tumour growth and spread.

Challenges were undertaken while still providing to the communities she loved and her immediate family, until symptoms suddenly worsened and with pneumonia, she was recently hospitalized. Fortunately, she returned home for the holidays, giving the girls some final quality moments with their Mom while caring for her until passing.

Sabina raised the girls as a single parent for the majority of their lives, making sacrifices to provide them with a well-rounded home that was based on a foundation of love, faith and community. Outreach was part of her ongoing support to enrich all loves/lives around her, and endless positive energy and hope helped bring light to all who surrounded her. This included helping at the local food bank, gardening for her church, and devotional activities with small groups and outreach teams.

Throughout their late teens and early twenties, Emily and Melissa were put in a position to make personal sacrifices at multiple points to support their family, with both grandparents needing live-in support. More recently, they’ve supported their Mom both physically and financially (taking leave from work and taking on extra costs for materials) to provide at-home care. All financial manners fall to them regarding expenses required after her passing. There are many out-of-pocket expenses that will be out of their reach, without your help.

As Emily and Melissa's Aunt, I'm appealing to those who knew Sabina to forward funds to the girls in lieu of flowers and/or charity donations, as there isn't a greater charity than the devotion they've exhibited in caring for their Mom and their extended family. It will go such a long way in alleviating the financial stress at a time when they need time to grieve and start building their own lives again.