MS Society fundraiser put on by two young Whitecourt children brings in over $1,000 in just six hours

 

Payton Hein and her little brother, Colby, are true superstars. Along with their parents, Daniel and Jessica, the pair have been holding a yearly garage sale fundraiser to raise funds for the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society of Canada. Collecting their own toys to sell and making a variety of goodies has enabled the kids to raise almost $3,000 in five years.

The fundraiser first began when Payton was four years old. “We were explaining to her that her grandpa, Tony Neimi, has muscular sclerosis (MS) and she really wanted to do something to help him,” explained Jessica. “She came up with the idea of giving away her toys, selling lemonade and cookies, and collecting money to help people just like her grandpa.”

As both children have grown up, each has taken on more roles in the fundraiser and they have added more things to help raise money. This year’s new additions included sparkle tattoos, rainbow looms, and fun balloon creations made by their dad, Daniel. Joined by her friend, Emma Lee, Payton provided all sorts of different tattoos to those who stopped by from butterflies to flowers.

“When they first started, Colby was only two, so he wasn’t too involved but now he completely understands that Grandpa has a condition and that there isn’t a cure for it, so he is right in there with wanting to help out.” He even had a large table with his items for sale on it. “I am donating some cars and trucks to the garage sale,” smiled young Colby. As for Payton, she had an array of toys out for sale. “I like doing this. We made lemonade and cookies for today and they taste good. Everyone was commenting on how yummy they were,” said Payton.

Canada has one of the highest rates of multiple sclerosis (MS) in the world with an estimated 100,000 Canadians living with the disease. Fundraisers such as Payton and Colby’s help make a difference in finding a cure and offering support to sufferers.

“I’m a very proud mom and their grandpa is so proud of them, too. He loves hearing about it every year,” said Jessica. Sadly, their grandpa is in the end stage of MS, but he loves his grandchildren very dearly and is very proud of the work they are doing to help others in his name. “It’s very challenging for my parents as he lives at home and my mom is his wife and caregiver, but the MS Society has helped them out a lot in getting a hospital bed and an electric wheelchair for him. It’s definitely a cause that is very near and dear to us.”

In the last four years, the Hein children raised a little over $1,800. This year, they blew it out of the park, raising over $1,000 for a five-year total of just under $3,000! “We are very appreciative of our generous community and those people who come every year to support Payton and Colby’s efforts to raise money for the MS Society,” beamed Daniel.