KATE'S PROJECT PJ'S AND STORYBOOKS
Donation protected
My dear wife and soulmate Kate had a dream. She envisioned a Christmas scene; a young child in his or her pyjamas reading a book with their loved ones after a bath.
Kate volunteered as a teachers assistant at two elementary schools in Kelowna British Columbia for six years. She noticed that on "Pyjama Day" some of the children wore quite threadbare PJ's and yet others wore clothes that looked like they may have slept in them overnight. She guessed these kids likely had no PJ's to wear at all. This troubled her as she had such a deep love for children. She wished there was a way that she could help them.
Kate had to stop her volunteer work in 2010, shortly after she was diagnosed with the terminal disease ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) also known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease." Her need for help increased dramatically as the disease progressed, slowly paralyzing her muscles and weakening her limbs. By the autumn of 2015 Kate was mostly confined to her bed and sometimes her powerchair. She needed full care as she had minimal use of her limbs and often needed mechanical assistance and oxygen to help her to breathe adequately.
This did not keep Kate from her desire to help others. She was a registered nurse for 30 years, who constantly helped others and volunteered in her community.
"Every day I rely on people to help me, and I feel not as productive as I used to be," said Kate. "So I thought in what way could I give back to society?"
"I have an idea." she said to me with that brilliant sparkle in her eyes that told me she had thought up something big. "I want to start project PJ's. I want children that are less fortunate than others at Christmas to be given a pair of pyjamas and a storybook to read." "I feel that reading is so important for the children."
After considerable research Kate met Pastor Kim of the Salvation Army Church in Kelowna. Together they discussed the list of families with young children that needed help and would be coming to pick up Christmas hampers with food and toys. We could also provide them with gift bags containing a pair of pyjamas and a storybook. They would be divided into appropriate age groups.
Kate was so excited that she had me out shopping before we had a list of sizes or amounts needed. We were concerned about availability as we didn't start the project until late November 2015. We had just over two weeks to accomplish our mission on time.
We had amazing help from friends and neighbors to remove hangers and tags, refold, and package pyjamas with age appropriate books. Our house was filled with 462 presents that we brought to the church to be given for the children.
We were so focussed on getting this done on time (which we did!) that we had little time to fundraise. Although our project was covered by Kelowna Capital News, The Daily Courier, Castanet.net and CHBC Global Network Television, we had little donation response.
We spent $7,309.03 on the project and very gratefully received $2,570.00 in donations in total from many people. This means we spent $4,739.03 of our own funds on this project which was far more than planned but we feel it was for a great cause.
''This was a dream come true." said Kate. She was proud of her accomplishment and said she hoped that her family and I would carry on the project as her legacy. " Even with an illness like ALS, I have still been able to use resources such as family and friends to accomplish a dream in helping others. I feel if I can do that, then anyone can do anything, and I just hope some people are inspired from that and they go out and help others, not only this holiday season but all through the year. That's one of the things that I hope comes from this."
My dearest wife and sweetheart Kate surrendered to her illness and passed away on September 02, 2016.
I have continued with Kate's dream and have through donations and purchases, delivered about the same number of presents to the Salvation Army, (just in time again!) that have been given out for the children this Christmas 2016. I have had little opportunity to fundraise this year as my primary focus was getting the presents wrapped and ready with the help of more wonderful volunteers. I have spent $4,316.03 on the project this year and have gratefully received $500.00 in donations so far.
I am asking for donations to purchase more pyjamas and books for our December 2017 Project PJ's and Storybooks.
Donations for this campaign will keep this dream of Kate's alive. Her vision of a freshly bathed child wearing a new pair of pajamas and reading a book at Christmas time can continue.
I feel that this is what Christmas is all about. I am honored to carry on my wifes dream and I am thankful to be able to help families in need with this campaign. I can only hope that this project may grow to help more families in need.
I am very grateful for donations of any amount.
Thanks Syd M
Kate volunteered as a teachers assistant at two elementary schools in Kelowna British Columbia for six years. She noticed that on "Pyjama Day" some of the children wore quite threadbare PJ's and yet others wore clothes that looked like they may have slept in them overnight. She guessed these kids likely had no PJ's to wear at all. This troubled her as she had such a deep love for children. She wished there was a way that she could help them.
Kate had to stop her volunteer work in 2010, shortly after she was diagnosed with the terminal disease ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) also known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease." Her need for help increased dramatically as the disease progressed, slowly paralyzing her muscles and weakening her limbs. By the autumn of 2015 Kate was mostly confined to her bed and sometimes her powerchair. She needed full care as she had minimal use of her limbs and often needed mechanical assistance and oxygen to help her to breathe adequately.
This did not keep Kate from her desire to help others. She was a registered nurse for 30 years, who constantly helped others and volunteered in her community.
"Every day I rely on people to help me, and I feel not as productive as I used to be," said Kate. "So I thought in what way could I give back to society?"
"I have an idea." she said to me with that brilliant sparkle in her eyes that told me she had thought up something big. "I want to start project PJ's. I want children that are less fortunate than others at Christmas to be given a pair of pyjamas and a storybook to read." "I feel that reading is so important for the children."
After considerable research Kate met Pastor Kim of the Salvation Army Church in Kelowna. Together they discussed the list of families with young children that needed help and would be coming to pick up Christmas hampers with food and toys. We could also provide them with gift bags containing a pair of pyjamas and a storybook. They would be divided into appropriate age groups.
Kate was so excited that she had me out shopping before we had a list of sizes or amounts needed. We were concerned about availability as we didn't start the project until late November 2015. We had just over two weeks to accomplish our mission on time.
We had amazing help from friends and neighbors to remove hangers and tags, refold, and package pyjamas with age appropriate books. Our house was filled with 462 presents that we brought to the church to be given for the children.
We were so focussed on getting this done on time (which we did!) that we had little time to fundraise. Although our project was covered by Kelowna Capital News, The Daily Courier, Castanet.net and CHBC Global Network Television, we had little donation response.
We spent $7,309.03 on the project and very gratefully received $2,570.00 in donations in total from many people. This means we spent $4,739.03 of our own funds on this project which was far more than planned but we feel it was for a great cause.
''This was a dream come true." said Kate. She was proud of her accomplishment and said she hoped that her family and I would carry on the project as her legacy. " Even with an illness like ALS, I have still been able to use resources such as family and friends to accomplish a dream in helping others. I feel if I can do that, then anyone can do anything, and I just hope some people are inspired from that and they go out and help others, not only this holiday season but all through the year. That's one of the things that I hope comes from this."
My dearest wife and sweetheart Kate surrendered to her illness and passed away on September 02, 2016.
I have continued with Kate's dream and have through donations and purchases, delivered about the same number of presents to the Salvation Army, (just in time again!) that have been given out for the children this Christmas 2016. I have had little opportunity to fundraise this year as my primary focus was getting the presents wrapped and ready with the help of more wonderful volunteers. I have spent $4,316.03 on the project this year and have gratefully received $500.00 in donations so far.
I am asking for donations to purchase more pyjamas and books for our December 2017 Project PJ's and Storybooks.
Donations for this campaign will keep this dream of Kate's alive. Her vision of a freshly bathed child wearing a new pair of pajamas and reading a book at Christmas time can continue.
I feel that this is what Christmas is all about. I am honored to carry on my wifes dream and I am thankful to be able to help families in need with this campaign. I can only hope that this project may grow to help more families in need.
I am very grateful for donations of any amount.
Thanks Syd M
Organizer
Sydney Mcguigan
Organizer
Kelowna, BC