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Vol. 18, No. 40, Wednesday, August 30, 2023 www.LamontLeader.com
Giving back is a family affair for Bruderheim locals BY JANA SEMENIUK Bruderheim resident Jevan Jackson, 16, was honoured this past June as Stollery Children’s Hospital Superstar of the Year after he has given up birthday gifts since he was six years old in favour of donations to the Stollery. The award was presented to Jackson at the eighth annual Stollery Superstars Party June 25, held at Fort Edmonton Park, where more than 200 kids and youth were also honoured for their various roles in fundraising. Jackson told CTV news that you get what you give. "I believe the good that you give back out to the world always finds a way of coming back to you," Jackson said. "I think that helping out people in need and stuff like that is really important for the community as well." Jackson’s mother, Jodie Velthuizen, said he was first inspired to begin his philanthropy after watching his baby brother, Jaxan, endure treatment at the Stollery. “Jaxan had been visiting the Stollery since he was four months old, because he was born with a cataract in his one eye,” she said, adding the little boy eventually became blind in the eye. “We've been back to the Stollery every year since, just to make sure there's no changes, make sure it's not cancerous or any of that kind of stuff. (If it was) we wanted to make sure we got it right away, which it wasn't, luckily.” Velthuizen said the first Christmas after Jaxan’s diagnosis, the family experienced an abundance of charity after applying for one Christmas hamper. “At the time I was a low-income single mom, and I applied for one (hamper) then the school said ‘you can use this’ and then another organization (said) we’ll give you a hamper,” she said, adding the family were given far more gifts than they needed. “At the
end of it I was trying to tell them no, I don't need it, and they're said ‘no, here you take it’.” Velthuizen said Jackson’s birthday was in Jan., leaving her to wonder if there was a better way to celebrate than with a fresh batch of gifts. “I said, ‘We just got all these presents, we just got all this stuff. Why don't instead of asking for more presents, why don't we find some way we can give back? Let's start raising some money or something’,” she said, adding that after a few options were considered, the Stollery was the final choice. From then on, Velthuizen said the Stollery sets up a donation website in Nov. with a link that Velthuizen can share on social media. She said over the past 10 years, Jackson has raised over
$5,000. “Our biggest year was around 2014, or 2015. We raised $1,500 that year,” she said. Meanwhile, the philanthropy bug also bit Jackson’s younger brothers, Jensan and Jaxan, who have opted, for the second year, to participate in the Stollery’s annual Lemonade Stand Day this past Aug. 27. The brothers, ages 10 and 13 respectively, set a goal for $100 and surpassed it by raising more than $200, setting up their lemonade stand in front of their home in Bruderheim. Donations to the boy’s lemonade stand can still be made online until Sept. 4 by going to: lemonadeyeg.ca/stands/heartlandlemonade-stand/
SUPERSTAR Bruderheim resident Jevan Jackson, 16, at the eighth annual Stollery Superstars Party this past June.
13-year-old Jaxan Jackson, stands in front of the lemonade stand he ran with his 10-year-old brother Jensan (not shown) in Bruderheim during the Stollery's annual Lemonade Stand Day Aug. 27. The boys have participated in the special fundraising day for the second year in a row after being inspired by their older brother Jevan, 16, who was recently honoured by the Stollery Children's Hospital for giving up his birthday gifts for 10 years to instead collect donations for the Stollery. Photo: Jodie Velthuizen