3 C
Niagara Falls
Wednesday, March 27, 2024
VanNoort Florists raises $13,000 for Toronto Epilepsy

The goal of raising $10,000 in support of Epilepsy Toronto by VanNoort Florists started at the beginning of July this year.

After exceeding the initial amount she had hoped to collect, Sharon VanNoort is amazed that just over $13,000 will be donated to Epilepsy Toronto through their summer events.

“When we decided that we would do a fundraiser for epilepsy research during a pandemic, I was not sure how successful we would be,” she said.

“I cannot tell you how much support we received over the following months as people from our community come in to help support our fundraiser,” VanNoort said.

VanNoort told The Lake Report that she is thankful for people’s generosity, including people who dropped off donations at the flower studio outside of the events.

“We had community members and business owners give donations of cash, cheques, buying cactus gardens, supporting our garage sale, buying face masks and finally on Sept. 1 we hosted a silent auction,” she said.

As of Sept. 8, $13,003.47 is the total amount raised by the VanNoorts and will be donated to support epilepsy research and social services for those living with epilepsy.

“This whole thing was her idea from the beginning,” said Sharon’s son Eric, who has epilepsy.

“She’s a saint. I don’t know what I’d do without her.”

“There are so many people to thank and I’m not even sure where to start, but I will start off with a heartfelt thank you,” Sharon said.

“With all of you, we raised $13,000 for epilepsy,” she said.

“My hope is that with research, more can be done for people living with epilepsy and one day my son and others will be able to get their life back.”

Subscribe to our mailing list