Donor Stories – Healy Family
Young philanthropists find small ways to make big impact - thanks to care they received at SickKids, the Healy family is committed to making a difference. When Monica Healy was only three years old, she had a near-tragic fall off a Christmas parade float and was rushed to SickKids. Luckily, her injuries were not severe and what could have been a fatal accident was narrowly avoided. The experience was life-changing for the Healy family. It was also the beginning of an incredible philanthropic relationship with SickKids Foundation.``We want to educate people on what is possible through fundraising.``
Armed with the knowledge that some children are not as fortunate as Monica had been, the Healy family – parents, Mark and Cynthia, and siblings Danielle, Cameron, Devin and Monica – decided to take action. The Healy children decided to contribute $2 every day to a life insurance policy in support of SickKids. Each child’s policy is worth $250,000, bringing the total support to $1 million.
“People seem to think you need a lot of money to make a large contribution and that simply isn’t true,” says Mark. “You just need to think outside of the box. Anything is possible. In this case it’s just kids looking after kids.”
Now a teenager, Monica has begun her own philanthropic initiative entitled Teens 4 A Cause. Using social media, Monica rallies teens from across Canada and the United States to get involved and contribute any way they can. By sharing her story with others, she hopes to inspire those around her. She knows she was lucky to receive world-class care from SickKids and be able to walk away from her experience with a positive attitude. Her overall goal for Teens 4 A Cause is to raise a total of $1 million for SickKids Foundation and other paediatric health care organizations. The Healy family knows it’s a big goal but the payoff is even bigger.
“We want to educate people on what is possible through fundraising,” says Mark. “It’s important to be a good corporate citizen and teach younger generations that they can do it too. All of this started with four kids pledging $2 a day.”
