Kahnawake fundraiser raises money to educate Indigenous health-care students
It’s been eight years since Iohahiio Delisle and Carla Skye lost their child, Karonhiaráhstha, to SIDS.
Ever since, they’ve held an annual Winter Wonderland fundraiser in her memory in Kahnawake, the Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) community south of Montreal.
The money they raise goes to a scholarship that funds young Indigenous health-care students.
Delisle says Indigenous people don’t have the same access to healthcare, but that this event can help address that.
“If we’re going to combat systemic (racism), then we can also do it by encouraging those positions be filled with professional Indigenous health-care workers,” said Delisle. Still, he says “It’s like opening a wound every year.”
At their last Winter Wonderland, which was held before the pandemic, they raised roughly $80 thousand.
This year, they’re hoping to raise even more.
The fundraiser works by stuffing donated gifts under trees. The gifts come from a wide range of places, including businesses, and other families – all in memory of Karonhiaráhstha.
So far, the family has helped 72 doctors, nurses, and health-care workers go to school.
“I guess the whole community grieves with us,” said Skye, “It’s a happy time, but it’s also a sad time.”
“Those funds are going to be used in a positive way for Kahnawake,” said Winter Wonderland volunteer Dale Jacobs. Which is going to affect “the next generation, and the next,” he said, “because we’re always looking towards the future. “
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.