GUELPH – Two Waterloo children are hoping to raise $10,000 for Hospice Wellington – a gesture of thanks for the organization, and a touching memorial for their grandmother, who passed away on July 6 at the Guelph facility.
JOYCE SEIP
Jacob Veltman, 11, and his sister Leah, 6, plan to run their ages in kilometers this fall and are seeking sponsors and donations. Jacob is training to run 11km and Leah to run 6km.
Their mother, Tonya Veltman, said the children held a bake sale in 2018 and raised $1,000 for cancer research. Their grandmother, Joyce Seip, battled cancer for four years and the children were keen to do something again.
“Ever since the bake sale they wanted to do another one,” Tonya said in a phone interview. “When COVID-19 hit, we knew they couldn’t do that.”
But since the family takes part in running events already and some of those events have gone on virtually despite the pandemic, the children decided to hold a virtual running event as a fundraiser.
These are lofty goals, their mother said. Jacob has run 5km races and Leah has run 1.5km in the past “so they have to do some training first,” she said.
And $10,000 is a lot more than $1,000.
Tonya said her mother went to Hospice Wellington “because all the other (hospices) were only allowing one visitor, period. Hospice Wellington allowed two visitors at a time and the visitors could change. I’m so glad Hospice let us all have visits with her. It made it nicer for us all.”
The children’s fundraiser is posted on the Hospice Wellington website, where the children have written their story. In it they say Hospice Wellington is “a great place in Guelph where all the staff, nurses and volunteers made us feel welcome and secure while they helped grandma to be comfortable and well cared for. Our mom and dad say that grandma was safe and comfortable there while she lived out her last days with us.”
The children call their grandmother “an awesome lady” who is missed by the entire family.
And they are committed to raising as much money as they can for Hospice Wellington.
Anyone interested in taking part or in sponsoring Jacob and Leah can visit https://www.hospicewellington.org/our-events/third-party-events.
They have already raised $3,650. Donations close Oct. 30, Joyce Seip’s birthday.
