“Charity starts at home.” Dating back to the 1600s, this unattributed phrase is experienced in many ways by various people. To me, it started at home with my mother which developed a deeply charitable spirit within me.
My family unit consisted of my mother, my sister and myself. As a single mother raising two kids, nothing was easy for my mother, but she always seemed to make it work. I was always surprised as a kid at my mother’s outlook regarding charity given, we lived penny to penny. She gave extensively and believed that we should always be gracious for our privilege and our successes. She encouraged us both to give all or a portion of our first pay cheque to charity to celebrate both our privilege and success. She prioritized giving above her/our own wants and desires – we did not miss a meal, but we also did not have a lot of things that our friends had.
In 2018, my mother was diagnosed with high-grade ovarian cancer that had metastasized to other areas of her body. Her fight against cancer was not fair – the cancer was in round five of a UFC championship fight, yet my mother was only learning she was even in a fight. Inevitably she lost that fight and passed the same year.
I have had the pleasure of being approached to play a lead role in many Federated Health Charities (FHC) campaigns over my career. While it is never easy finding the time to lead these campaigns, I have always said yes given the charitable spirit deeply ingrained into me by my mother and also to support raising funds for the 21 health charities that benefit from the donations raised within the OPS (Ontario Public Service) to support healthier communities through health education and awareness, medical research, and client and patient services. The 21 charities include the Canadian Cancer Society, who’s mission is: In trusted partnership with donors and volunteers, we improve the lives of all those affected by cancer through world-class research, transformative advocacy and compassionate support. The linkage to my mother is clear but when I review the 21 charities, I can’t help but think about all the people I know that are impacted by the underlying illnesses that the charities support.
As a proud public servant, I am even more energized by the fact that the FHC is a charity founded by OPS staff in 1983 and I am proud and impressed that the campaign has raised nearly $60 million collectively since its inception.
The charitable spirit instilled in me by my mother, the personal impact cancer had on my mother and my OPS pride has led me to play lead roles over my 25+ year OPS career. In 2022, I ended up with a purple mohawk and beardless once my branch raised more than $3000 for the FHC. In 2023, I was asked to chair the SOLGEN (Solicitor General) FHC campaign which, in addition to over-achieving the target, had quite the laundry list of engaging events to support not only fund-raising efforts, but to also ensure staff had fun doing so (e.g., a virtual who done it, a parking spot raffle, a popcorn challenge, auctioning handmade Muskoka chairs made in the woodshop of a correctional facility and more).
This year, I have been asked to chair the MOH (Ministry of Health) FHC campaign and I am super excited to work with my Executive Sponsors (Susan Picarello and Karima Velji) and my Executive Team (Eliot Pridoehl, Alex Murphy, Kelli Seepaul, Alicia Royer, Santina Musto, Wanda Diaz, Lauren Vyse, Emma Beserman, Sue Yahoda, Jackie Annon). Our campaign theme “Together we Thrive – 21 for ‘25” reflects how important people are to the campaign. This includes the team leading the campaign, but more importantly, all the people contributing to the campaign as…Together we Thrive.
I am blessed to have been raised by such a wonderful woman. I am proud to be an Ontario public servant, as she too was, in which my work contributes to our communities and individuals. I am excited to continue contributing to this amazing campaign and watching our contribution as an organization grow. I continue to be in awe while I learn of all the remarkable work the charities do to ensure our contributions of raising awareness and donations help support healthier communities.
Thrive with me, and us, OPS.
Would you like to share your story with others about why you support Federated Health Charities? Do you know someone who would? Reach out to us at federated.health.charities@ontario.ca – we’d love to introduce you to your provincial government colleagues!
