When two communities pull together for the sake of one small child, anything can happen.
When Melissa McLaren found out last month that her 17 month old son, Daxon, was scheduled for brain surgery on March 30th, her panic was twofold. Not only was she concerned for her son who has been seizing since he was 11 days old but another extended stay at sick kids and 6 weeks off work were financially unattainable. Just back to work off maternity leave, Mom could feel the panic setting in.
Enter an army of Lowes employees from both Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie and an amazing group of people from both cities who call themselves “Team Daxon”. The t-shirt proudly boasts a giraffe and the purple epilepsy ribbon.
Upon hearing of Daxon’s plight local artist, Christopher Pollari felt compelled to create a personal giraffe painting for Daxon, as well as, The White Giraffe painting that depicts the hope and love that families need during these difficult times. The White Giraffe Campaign of Hope was born. A very limited number of prints personally signed by Christopher will be available for sale to the public starting today. Proceeds will go to charity.
The event will be launched during a massive fund raising auction on the facebook site Sault Buy Weekly. The site will host the Baby Daxon auction all weekend to help defray the cost of Melissa having to be off work. An extended maternity leave to care for a sick child has left the long time Lowes employee with few options.
Over 50 items donated by local artists, friends, family and complete strangers will hit the site starting at 4 pm today. The response has been over whelming says Sault Buy Weekly admin and auction coordinator Kelly Turner. “Over 300 man hours have gone into the planning and organization of the auction. Many talented people have stepped up to offer assistance to a family they have never met.”
The end goal is no surprise but the journey has been nothing short of amazing. Two sister cities with one goal. To support a baby who has changed the way people view kindness before ever speaking his first word.
