Words Pamela Martin
Photos Help Fill a Dream Foundation
Childhood is meant to be filled with carefree days and dreams for the future. But when serious illness enters a family’s life, the everyday magic of being a kid can disappear beneath uncertainty. Dreams can suddenly feel far away, crowded out by hospital appointments, difficult conversations and financial hardship. For 40 years, Help Fill A Dream Foundation has been a bright light for families when times feel darkest.
Help Fill A Dream is a charity dedicated to making dreams come true for children facing serious illness on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. From dream trips and experiences to financial assistance, the foundation provides a safety net in hard moments.
“Families are put in positions to make choices they shouldn’t have to,” says Executive Director Craig Smith. “We operate quietly in the background to provide support to families in medical crisis, no matter what they need.”
Forty years on, the story is clear. What began with one BC Transit driver, Rick Thomas, helping a little girl visit her grandmother, has grown into a foundation that fills more than 20 dreams yearly and supports more than 200 children through financial assistance. All funds stay local, each family’s needs are considered, and support does not end when the dream does. In four decades, Help Fill A Dream has never once said no to an eligible request – more than 4,000 of them.
“At a time when many organizations have cut back,” Craig says, “we ask: what more can we do?”
This June, the Foundation’s 40th-anniversary celebrations continue at Iroquois Park in Sidney, where Help Fill A Dream and Seaside Magazine will host the 10th annual Charity Road Hockey Tournament. On June 20, Dream kids, their families and the wider community will come together for a day built around Canada’s favourite pastime. It’s fresh air, friendly competition and community purpose all rolled into one afternoon.
For volunteer Jim Pullen, being part of this grassroots community is a reminder that he is connected to something larger than himself. “Having even a small part in keeping the excitement going,” he says. “The spark and connection between what the charity is and how it started, is why I stay involved.” Jim will be on site again this year as 15-year-old Sumeya has her dream unveiled at the tournament.
As Help Fill A Dream steps into its next chapter, Smith reflects with pride on the culture of philanthropy that has grown around the Foundation. Children create fundraisers, and parents offer their talents to help others. It has become an organic movement fuelled by lived experience, compassion and the understanding that those who have been through hard times often know exactly how to help others facing them.
“Because they’ve done so much for our family during the hardest time,” says Arabella Young, artist and mother of Dez, “it is so important for us to give back to the families who may be in the same position we were in.” Arabella has spearheaded an online art auction from May 1 to June 7, along with A Night to Sparkle Gala at McTavish Academy of Art on June 6. She adds: “Help Fill A Dream has modeled to kids what supporting others in hard times can do.”
What started with one person has grown into a network of donors, volunteers and families working together to offer hope and a way forward. As young Dream Recipient turned fundraiser Andrei Marti puts it: “As a community, we’re greater than any disease out there.”
To learn more about Help Fill A Dream Foundation or the tournament, visit www.helpfilladream.com. For art auction and gala information, visit www.anighttosparkle.com.
