February 2021: Dine MB Restaurant Guide, Dream Kid Valentines + Special Thank You's!
Warmer weather is on the way! Even though February was a cold one, that sure didn't stop our Great Skaters from braving the cold to raise funds to make dreams come true. It also didn't stop a number of our friends in the community - including a few of our very own Dream Kids - from making an incredible difference for The Dream Factory. Keep reading to see all of things that made February a GREAT month!
Dreams Come True in February
We're celebrating two special dreams come true last month - for Hailie and Juwan!
Hailie celebrated her 18th birthday in style with a limo tour of Winnipeg with her family, balloons, flowers, yummy treats from Sweet Impressions and dinner from Red Lobster! We provided her with gift cards to a few of her favourite stores so she can shop online for some very special gifts!
While Juwan's 18th birthday celebration was a little bit more low key due to his treatments, he was still very excited for a dream come true! He received a balloon bouquet, treats from Sweet Impressions and also chose Red Lobster for a birthday dinner! Juwan's dream was for an electronics shopping spree so he could get a PS5, headset and maybe even a new TV for the best gaming experience ever!
Dine MB Restaurant Guide Raises $20,000 For Dreams Come True!
This past December, our community came together to support local restaurants AND help make more Dreams come true. The Dine MB Restaurant Guide, an initiative spearheaded by our friends at the Manitoba Restaurant and Foodservices Association, Pasquales Restaurant, and CSN Printing, was a perfect way to treat yourself to some of Winnipeg's best local restaurants.
Today, we are so excited to share that the sales of the Dine MB Restaurant Guide resulted in a donation of over $20,000 to The Dream Factory in support of bringing more Dreams to life here in our community!
There are many people responsible for this incredible achievement, including our friends at the Manitoba Restaurant and Foodservices Association, who have lent an incredible amount of support to The Dream Factory over the last several years. We also have to thank Joe at Pasquales for his tireless work connecting with participating restaurants and the folks at CSN Printing for bringing the guide to life! Thank you also to Sachit at East India Company for hosting us and for your support of this campaign.
Of course, we want to send the biggest thank you of all to everyone who purchased a Dine MB for yourselves or a loved one!
This wonderful gift is going to make a tremendous impact for our Dream Kids and their families this year, and we could not be more grateful!
The Great Skate is a GREAT Success!
It's official! This year's Great Skate raised $12,000 to help make more dreams come true here in our community. There are so many people we want to recognize for making incredibly generous donations, braving the cold, and making it a ton of fun along the way.
To our Great Skaters - thank you for all of the time and effort put into spreading the word, asking friends and family to support you, and helping raise funds for our Dream Kids! We even had skaters from outside of Manitoba joining in to lend their support!
A very special congratulations goes out to our top fundraisers for the event: Gabby Thiessen, Karly Tardiff, Mary-Ann Fast, Noah Gross, and Sara Shimoji, who did an absolutely incredible job!
Our thanks again to Manitoba Egg Farmers for joining us as a Community Event partner of The Great Skate and providing a $1000 matching gift donation to the event.
Finally - a tremendous thanks to Derek, Megan and the team November Project Winnipeg for championing a safe and fun way for folks to get outside, get active, and help make a difference for a child in our community fighting a tough battle.
The response to this year's Great Skate was incredible and you should be so very proud of your accomplishment. Because of you, more dreams will come true... and we think that's pretty GREAT!
Dream Kid Noah Gives Back!
We just had to share one more update from The Great Skate - this time from one of our very own Dream Kids!
Noah is 15 years old and is battling a chronic kidney disease. Last December, we were so thrilled to be able to give Noah the complete gaming system of his dreams - even down to the gaming chair! For him, it was a dream come true.
Noah decided that he wanted to do something to give back, so he laced up his skates and decided to participate in this year's Great Skate! Not only did he hit the ice, he raised over $700 from friends and family to help support The Dream Factory.
We're sending our gratitude to Dream Kid Noah for his hard work fundraising, his GREAT skating, and for giving back in such a thoughtful way! Thanks Noah!
Pictured: Dream Kid Noah is all smiles after his Great Skate! He was also one of the top fundraisers for the event - thanks again, Noah!
Shortline Supports our Monthly Donors!
This month, we're sending a huge thank you out to our longtime friends at Shortline Moving Solutions. In addition to helping make Ben's bedroom makeover dream come true last year, they also pledged $3000 as a matching gift to support our monthly giving program.
As a result, many of our dedicated monthly donors chose to increase their monthly gift for 2021 - knowing that in would be matched in full by the generous team at Shortline Moving Solutions!
Thanks again to Shortline, for always going above and beyond for our Dream Kids and helping make more dreams come true!
If you'd like to join this passionate group of dedicated supporters helping make more dreams come true every month, we would love to welcome you as a monthly donor! The generosity of these amazing individuals helps ensure that more dreams will come true for sick kids in Manitoba and we are so grateful for them!
Lily's Valentines Cards Update: Over 500 Sold!
Last month, we shared a story about Dream Kid Lily and Cranked Energy, who came together to create and sell handcrafted Valentines cards in support of The Dream Factory. Since then, over 500 cards have been sold, meaning that more than $1500 will be donated to The Dream Factory to help make more dreams come true!
Our sincere thanks again to Dream Kid Lily and Cheryl at Cranked Energy for dreaming up this incredible partnership. We appreciate all of the good you do for our community!
Meet A Dream Maker: Prairie Manufacturer
Over the last several years, we have been so lucky to work alongside our friends at Prairie Manufacturer Magazine. The team at PMM has helped to share our Dream stories with their incredible community, and regularly spread the word about the work we do, and how folks can get involved with making a Dream come true.
We have met many incredible community leaders through our partnership with Prairie Manufacturer, and are so appreciative for their continued kindness and support. They are always willing to help share our stories, and for that we are very grateful!
Check out some of the wonderful spreads that the Prairie Manufacturer team has put together over the last few years!
