The Donor: Sherry Welsh
The Gift: $130,000 and climbing
The Cause: Camp Dorset
Sherry Welsh can still remember how much her sister, Karen Klassen, enjoyed Camp Dorset.
Ms. Klassen had kidney disease and she loved Camp Dorset, near Huntsville, Ont., because in addition to typical summer camp activities it also has an onsite dialysis unit and medical staff. "She used to tell me about this camp where she was able to take her daughters and her husband," Ms. Welsh recalled from her family farm near Port Rowan, Ont., south of Tillsonburg. "It was just so relaxing for her because she knew the kids were enjoying themselves instead of sitting in a hospital waiting room."
Ms. Klassen died 11 years ago at the age of 34. Ms. Welsh had never been to Camp Dorset but after her sister died she joined a local branch of the Lions Club, which sponsors the camp. "So then I just got really involved with it. I just wanted to pretty much give back to the camp what the camp gave Karen," she said.
In 2008 she launched Karen's Quest, a 640-kilometre fundraising walk from Port Rowan to Camp Dorset. The walk took 35 days and she raised $45,000 with help from her husband, Peter; her four children and many volunteers. She funded part of the excursion by collecting $6,000 worth of bottles and cans along the way. "We pick up recyclables and that helps pay for the gas and lodging," she said.
The event was such a success Ms. Welsh has held an annual walk ever since, raising more than $130,000 in total. This year she plans to trek 4,000 kilometres, covering much of the province in about three months. She's hoping to raise $50,000 and has already started walking. The money will help pay for 20 new dialysis machines and fix some of the camp's 14 cottages.
Ms. Welsh jokes that she has never been athletic - "I wasn't athletic at all, at all" - but she knows how much the camp means to so many families. While she never went with sister, Ms. Welsh is now a regular visitor to Camp Dorset, fixing cottages and doing other volunteer jobs. She also plans to keep walking every year and raising money for the camp.
"I love it," she said. "And there is a lot of other work to do there yet."
Paul Waldie