Fooooore! Last week we had a blast at the Josh Morrissey Classic Golf Tournament! The tournament was presented by Exchange Income Corporation at the St. Boniface Golf Club. Our friend and Dream Ambassador Josh Morrissey and his wife Margot joined us to hang out with some Dream Kids throughout the day. All in all, our incredible Dream Community came together and raised a record-breaking $191,527 in support of our Dream Kids!

The day started off with a VIP Sponsor Breakfast – eggs, bacon, sausage, and hash browns. YUM! Dream Kid Ava and her family were in attendance too! They sat with Josh – Ava is a hockey player too, so she and Josh traded on-ice tips over breakfast.

**Pictured:** Dream Kid **Ava** and her brother Lucas meeting **Josh Morrissey**

Ava is a fun-loving, outdoorsy kid who is caring and full of personality. She’s like most kids her age, except that in 2019, Ava got sick. After travelling from her home in Brandon to the Children’s Emergency in Winnipeg, Doctors determined that Ava’s liver function was abnormal. After a two-week stay at the hospital, Ava went into acute liver failure.

Ava was transported to Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto, and she stayed there for two weeks. Somehow, Ava’s liver had recovered. To this day, doctors have never found a cause for her liver failure. Later that year, Ava was diagnosed with severe aplastic anemia. For months she required weekly blood transfusions and needed to live onsite at the hospital. Ava would need a bone marrow transplant to raise her blood counts. In January 2020, Ava received her transplant from her dad. At her follow-up appointment, Ava and her family were told the transplant was a success!

Continuing with follow-ups and re-immunizations after all the chemotherapy and radiation, Ava’s parents thought the end of Ava’s troubles. But a year later, Ava came down with a bad case of meningitis. With severe aplastic anemia, her antibodies don’t produce enough cells to fight off infections. Ava was in ICU for two days and after a few weeks, she miraculously made a full recovery.

To celebrate her recovery, Ava and her family will be going on a Dream Trip to Disney! Ava is so strong and has fought through so much. She now receives a monthly antibody transfusion and can finally attend school and participate in activities – like hockey! We are so glad that Ava could join us at the Josh Morrissey Classic and spend some time with a fellow hockey player in Josh.

As volunteers rolled in and made this event possible, so did the golf teams whose organizations sponsored the tournament. While waiting for the shotgun start, golfers mingled and enjoyed a BBQ lunch on the patio while Josh spent some more time with our Dream Families. The golf carts brought teams out to their starting holes, and the tournament was on! While Josh hit the links with a few of the teams, Margot volunteered with The Dream Factory staff and visited each hole, meeting all the sponsors and volunteers. Each hole had fun activities, whether it was a putting contest, a gelati sampling, or a marshmallow toss – everyone on and off the course made the day extra special!

The games came to a close and golfers were getting hungry, so it was time for the dinner and auction in the clubhouse! Again, Josh sat with more Dream Families and made the evening a night to remember for the Dream Kids.

Speeches honoured The Dream Factory’s outgoing Executive Director, Howard Koks, for the great impact he had on our Dream Kids over his time with the organization. We also welcomed in a new Executive Director, Andrew Kussy – we’re excited for all the great things on the horizon!

We also heard from the parents of Dream Kid Cody. 7-year-old Cody was first diagnosed with B-Cell ALL High Risk in 2020. Cody was very reactive to his chemo treatments and faced many setbacks throughout his treatment. But Cody has been so brave during all his appointments – he doesn’t like the needles, but he loves all the nurses and doctors at Cancer Care for helping him feel better.

**Pictured:** Dream Kid **Cody** and his family meeting **Josh** at the tournament.

Cody’s Dream was to have his very own Arcade Game Room in his basement, complete with an air hockey table, basketball, and skee-ball game! This past June, Cody’s Dream Came True! The Dream Factory teamed up with Zoe Henry Designs and Paragon Living to bring Cody’s vision for a home arcade to life! When Cody came downstairs and first set eyes on his new basement digs, he and his brother were so excited – they jumped right to the air hockey table for a spirited matchup!

Since then, Cody and his family have been enjoying their basement, playing arcade games, and having family Mario Party sessions on Cody’s Nintendo Switch. Cody’s family shared their story at the golf tournament and Cody got Josh to sign his hockey card! Cody was thrilled; he couldn’t help but show off his signed card to everyone around.

After dinner was served, the live auction and bidding wars began over awesome prizes such as signed Jets jerseys and special game day experience prize packs. One special bidding item was Sarah’s Dream Trip to Hawaii – bidders came together to combine their totals to help make Sarah’s Dream Come True!