It’s been a rough week, no? With tragedies in Virginia, Barcelona, Burkina Faso and others it’s hard not to think we’ve all woken up in 1939 or 1965 – hell, even 1865.
Luckily for me it was also one of the most inspiring weeks I’ve had in a long time. Let me tell you why…
On Monday I heard about an initiative that someone whom I’ve never even met before wants to launch to deliver comfort kits to cancer patients at Sunnybrook in support of The Tory Day Fund. Her name is Peggy and she’s calling them Buddy Bags, and the kits will be filled with items like lip balm and crossword puzzles to help make patients more comfortable during their treatment.
This concept is something I considered early on but put off … and here’s a complete stranger showing me how it’s done. Love it. I spoke with Peggy and her original plan was to produce 10 – and she’s now had double the orders in just a few days.
Interested? Contact Peggy to order yours today. And if you’d prefer to purchase a regular cinch sac of your own, Peggy is donating the proceeds of those orders to The Tory Day Fund.
Next, I was introduced to a woman you might remember from the news a few years back who went through her own personal hell after her autistic son was taken from her home around Christmas. Anne’s resilience led her to start Special Needs Dream Works, a charity supporting the creation of family or group homes as well as respite programs for people with developmental disabilities. Hearing that story alone would be inspiring.
But after learning about The Tory Day Fund from a mutual friend, she wanted to do even more. Anne’s also an award-winning hotelier and is hosting the Women in Tourism & 
Hospitality Conference in Toronto in September – and she’s chosen The Tory Day Fund as one of the three charities that will share in the event’s profit. And I’ll be at the event promoting the fund to the A-list execs from the hospitality industry.
You want more? OK, there’s more – I did promise you three inspiring acts, didn’t I.
I was already on cloud nine this week when on Thursday I got a text from my sister-in-law Angela that simply said “Kleenex alert!” And I’ve been conditioned to know what’s coming because of this story.
Here’s what the next text said, along with a picture of Tessa, my niece:
“I want to donate my hair to help all the little sick kids that were sick like my Aunt Tory. I think about her every day and how I can help people like her and donating my hair was one of my ideas.”
That girl is even more beautiful on the inside than she is on the outside. I’ll likely crack her ribs with the hug she’ll get tonight.
I knew the idea of improving the comfort of cancer patients was compelling when we launched The Tory Day Fund, and I looked forward to the day when it got beyond the grassroots level. I just didn’t expect it to happen just two months after we launched.
Thanks to Peggy, to Anne, to Tessa and all of you for the inspiration.
Have a great weekend.
J.