January 2021: Andie's Story, A Great Skate, and the BEST Christmas Ever!
Here at The Dream Factory, we are looking ahead to a 2021 full of Dreams come true and a ton of fun throughout our community. January definitely started that out on the right foot - with a number of Dream stories and community-led initiatives that we are very excited to share with you in this month's blog! Keep scrolling to read all about it!
And as a reminder - if you haven’t had an opportunity to check out our Dream Factory Tour on Instagram - be sure to take a look! It’s a really fun way to take a look "inside The Dream Factory” and learn a bit more about how dreams come true here in our community!
Meet Andie
“It felt like a bad dream."
When Andie was diagnosed with lymphoma, everything changed for her. We are so grateful that Andie chose to share her story with us, in her own words. Today, Andie is cancer-free and looking forward to her dream come true: an above ground pool she and her family can enjoy this summer!
Check out an excerpt of Andie's story below, or click here to read her full story.
Letter from A Dream Kid: Andie's Story
Months before I got diagnosed I would feel sleepy and I wouldn't have much energy by the end of the day. I would come home from school at 4 and sleep until 7 or sometimes 8. I don't remember that much of when I got diagnosed. All I remember is that my sister and my dad were having fun and cracking jokes in the office waiting for the diagnosis while my mom was sitting and observing, already having an idea about what my future would look like. I can't even remember if I cried or anything, but I got poutine at the end of the day.
During chemotherapy I didn’t have much energy and it was getting harder to walk up the stairs alone. On days when I felt stronger and had more energy, I would make an effort to go to school and see all my friends and my home room teacher who helped me emotionally throughout my treatment.
One of the days I felt good was my birthday and my class wanted to do something for me. When I walked into class I saw that my desk was covered in sticky notes with inside jokes or things that I’ve said in class or with my friends and I think that was the sweetest present that I’ve ever gotten. They also got me fluffy socks and played Mario Kart WII. I’m so good at that game so I beat everyone who dared to challenge me! I watched my supportive classmates play ‘Just Dance’ for the rest of the day. It was the most fun I've ever had for my birthday and I'm so thankful to have an amazing teacher who allowed something like that to happen.
Dream Throwback: Nova's Dream Come True
Last month, Nova's dream came true - thanks to a little help from some incredible friends in our community.
Nova's dreamed of the "BEST Christmas Ever" - a day she could celebrate with her entire family. Her dream come true included holiday decorations, a socially distant Santa visit, a special dinner, and of course - gifts for Nova and all of her siblings!
Nova's mom said they had a beautiful day full of wonderful memories, and that all of the kids had an absolute blast celebrating their best Christmas ever.
This dream was only possible because of the generous support of our friends at Red River Co-op and 103.1 Virgin Radio. You might remember back in 2019, when Ace Burpee launched a brand new flavour of chips in Co-op stores - Honey Dill!
Over the course of 2019, $15,000 was raised that will help support 2 special dreams come true in 2021 - the first being Nova's Best Christmas Ever!
Our sincere thanks again to Ace, Virgin Radio, Red River Co-op, and everyone who has purchased a bag of Honey Dill Chips - you are all responsible for this special dream come true, and we can't thank you enough!
Pictured: Nova and her siblings were all smiles when Santa safely delivered presents during her “Best Christmas Ever” dream come true!
The Great Skate 2021
One of our favourite events from 2020 is BACK this year - but looking a little bit different! Our friends at November Project YWG are hosting this year's Great Skate as a safe, solo 6KM skate and fundraiser to help make more dreams come true.
In addition to braving the cold and working on recording their best time, the incredible folks participating in this year's Great Skate have raised more than $9000! This tremendous result will go such a long way towards bringing more dreams to life this year, and we couldn't be more appreciative.
We also want to thank our friends at Manitoba Egg Farmers, who are a Community Event Partner for The Dream Factory and are supporting this year's Great Skate. They generously provided a $1000 matching gift, and helped us smash our original fundraising goal!
To all of our Great Skaters and the folks who have supported them over the last several weeks - thank you! We couldn't have dreamed of a better way to start this year, and appreciate all of your hard work. Because of you, more dreams will come true for kids in Manitoba battling life-threatening illnesses.
Pictured: Great Skater Mary-Anne Fast sent in this shot of her during her Great Skate - Mary Anne raised over $800 for The Great Skate event!
Lily’s Valentine Cards + Cranked Energy
It doesn't get better than this: our Dream Kids and a fabulous local business coming together to make more dreams come true!
Dream Kid Lily recently started Howe Bay Designs (give her a follow!) - where she creates beautiful, handmade watercolour cards. She's recently partnered with our dear friends at Cranked Energy, who asked Lily to create a custom card they could sell on their website - with 100% of the sales supporting The Dream Factory!
Here is a message about the partnership from Lily herself:
"Hi! My name is Lily and I am 11 years old. I am the artist behind Howe Bay Designs, and I am so happy to share my love of watercolour with you.
I started to watercolour because I love to paint, and I love the way watercolour turns out on the page. I hope you enjoy my work as much as I enjoy making it!
I chose The Dream Factory as the charity I wanted to support because they've given so much to me and I wanted to give back. I was diagnosed with Leukemia in 2016, and was a Dream Kid in 2018. My dream was to meet the dolphins Winter and Hope from "Dolphin Tale" the movie, and it was absolutely a dream come true!
Thank you for supporting such a wonderful cause!"
Click here to order yours today! The cards are available until February 28th, and 100% of proceeds will help bring more dreams to life for kids like Lily. Thank you to our friends at Cranked Energy for all they do to support our community, and to Minute Man Press for supporting this project!
Meet A Dream Maker: Manitoba Egg Farmers
Our friends at the Manitoba Egg Farmers have been a long-time supporter of The Dream Factory, lending their support to a number of our community initiatives, and helping many dreams come true along the way. We always enjoy working with their incredible team, and coming up with fun and creative ways to make a difference!
This month, we are so proud to share that Manitoba Egg Farmers will be a 2021 Community Event Partner of The Dream Factory! That means you'll see them lending their support to our community events (like this month's Great Skate!) throughout the year. We are so proud to have them involved as an important part of our Dream Factory community!
