32) Million Dollar Smiles

It's almost been 3 weeks since I wrote an update, but I haven't forgotten about this blog. More on that in a future post.

What I would first like to do is give recognition to an organization and one of its sponsor families. I'm talking about Million Dollar Smiles.

"Million Dollar Smiles was started with the simple goal of wanting to bring smiles to children facing life threatening illnesses. Million Dollar Smiles is a non-profit organization that provides support for families with children facing adversity from life threatening illnesses."

Two of their larger programs are: 1) the Summer Playground Build, where children have a special playground build in their backyard by volunteers, and 2) the Holiday Bear Drive, where giant teddy bears and gift cards are delivered to children. Million Dollar Smiles has hosted a Halloween Gala, and 2017 marked its 10th year. The past 3 galas have been located at Paradise Banquet Hall and Convention Centre in Vaughan, which co-incidentally is where my wife and I got married.

On Saturday December 16th, one of the Million Dollar Smiles sponsors families dropped off a big teddy bear for J, and a giant teddy bear for E. Also included was a gift card to Toys R Us. I took a few photos, but forgot to ask the family if they were okay with me posting the pics, or mentioning them by name, so I will not identify them. E was unfortunately not feeling very well that day, so the family did not get to see our regularly happy little guy. We had a brief, but charming conversation with them, and we learned that this was their 4th year of being involved with Million Dollar Smiles.

It was quite the heartwarming experience to have complete strangers make a donation that is personally delivered on their own time, all in the name of putting a smile on your sick child's face. All I can say is thank you from the bottom of my heart, but somehow that doesn't feel like it's enough.

E and J's teddy bears from Million Dollar Smiles