Besides raising funds, young volunteer lifts spirits

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This article was published 28/09/2020 (1858 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

To begin, a joke: What do you call a bear with no teeth?

A gummy bear.

Abigail Stewart offers up the gag after mentioning that her volunteer role at the Teddy Bears’ Picnic one year included making bear-themed wisecracks to the crowd.

It’s just one of the many volunteer roles the 14-year-old Transcona resident has filled for the Children’s Hospital Foundation, which organizes the fundraising picnic.

Over the past seven years, Stewart’s efforts have helped raise thousands of dollars for the foundation.

But the reason she first got involved is no laughing matter.

At the age of four, Abigail was diagnosed with multisystem Langerhans histiocytosis, a condition that caused her white blood cells to eat away at her bones.

The illness acts like cancer, so doctors treated it like cancer.

Abigail underwent chemotherapy and steroid treatment at the Children’s Hospital for a year.

“I remember a lot of going back and forth to the hospital, and to CancerCare, but my memories aren’t very precise,” says Abigail, who is now in remission.

The experience left her with a desire to give back.

In 2013, she got involved with Relay for Life, an annual fundraiser for the Canadian Cancer Society. Over the next four years, she raised more than $13,000.

By 2018, Abigail was raising money for the Children’s Hospital Foundation. That was the same year the foundation named her its Manitoba Champion Child, a year-long ambassador role.

In addition to representing the foundation at a number of fundraising galas, Abigail travelled to Ottawa with her family to meet other champions from across the country.

That was followed by a trip to Orlando, Fla., where she met with champion children from across the U.S. and spent a few days at Disney World.

“It was a lot of fun,” Abigail says. “I loved meeting all the other champions.”

Last year, Abigail organized her biggest fundraiser yet — a day-long bake sale held at St. Bartholomew’s Anglican Church. The sale raised more than $22,500 for the pediatric oncology unit that saved her life.

“I was so happy that I could make a difference. I like knowing that I can help other people.”

Abigail’s philanthropic efforts have come from her own initiative, says her mother, Ashley Stewart.

“If anything, I’ve said I’m not doing any more bake sales,” Ashley says with a laugh. “But then last year, I still got sucked into another bake sale, because she’s very much a go-getter. My husband and I have always said we can’t say no when she wants to do something good.”

In November, Abigail will receive a Premier’s Volunteer Service Award as part of the 37th annual Volunteer Awards, presented by Volunteer Manitoba and Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries.

Additionally, the provincial chapter of the Association of Manitoba Fundraising Professionals is awarding Abigail with a 2020 Manitoba Philanthropy Award in recognition of the $75,000 she’s raised over the years.

“I’m proud of her,” Ashley says. “I’m proud that she’s the go-getter she is, to bring people together and raise money for kids that are like her and that have gone through what she’s gone through.”

Abigail wasn’t expecting the recognition.

“I feel really honoured that they would think of me,” she says. “When I started volunteering, I didn’t really think about anything like that.”

If all goes according to plan, Abigail will be helping people for many years to come.

“My dream is to become a doctor at the children’s hospital,” she says.

If you know a special volunteer, please contact aaron.epp@gmail.com.