Miracles happen after a Blizzard hits Tottenham

August 15, 2013 · 0 Comments

There was a blizzard in Tottenham last week and it was centralized over Dairy Queen on its annual Miracle Treat Day.

On Miracle Treat Day the Tottenham DQ raised over $10,000, and sold 1860 blizzards. 100 per cent of blizzard sales will go to the Children’s Miracle Network at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto, which treats and cares for thousands of children each year.

Last year over $9,000 was raised.

Janalyn Hastings, one of the young organizers from the Tottenham location who also helped run the event last year, said the event received a generous amount of support from the community.

“With the help of so many people and a bunch of businesses in the area pre-ordering, hopefully we’ll definitely be able to reach that goal,” she said.

Over the past couple months; employees have also sold roughly 4,000 balloons for a donation to also raise money for the cause.

Also on hand were members of the local police and fire departments to help make and sell blizzards to the many clients that came in for a cold treat.

OPP Const. Tim Baille said it was his first time participating in the event at Dairy Queen and that fundraising events such as this are crucial for the community.

“Things like this are very important,” he said. “With all the diseases and things out there the money is well needed by Sick Kids Hospital and it’s a great cause to come out here and help all these kids that are getting treatments for whatever ailments they have.”

There was also a special guest at the event, a five-year-old boy named Billiy Jack.

Since June, Billiy has gone to the Dairy Queen nearly every other day to donate any change he can get his hands on.

“He donates a big change purse full of roughly $3 or $4 every other day,” said Heather Orgar, another organizer. “He’s five, so to show our appreciation we got him a big basket with some toys. It’s important that Sick Kids will benefit from him coming in and doing that. Even small change obviously makes a big difference, so he has been a big supporter.”

Billiy’s mom said it has become a trip that her son always looks forward to.

“Because he’s autistic, it’s routine,” she said. “He just loves to come in and do it every other day and I think he knows on some level that he’s donating.”

She also said he was excited to be a special guest for the event.

“He knew something was going on, so he was looking forward to coming in,” she explained. “They sent us a letter saying, ‘we appreciate the donations and you’re going to be a special guest on Miracle Treat Day on Thursday,’ and we were very surprised to see that they also had a gift bag for him.”

By Jeff Doner