“Hello, my name is Isobella Norman and this is Emma Touchet. We’re raising money for the Canadian Cancer Society. We’re walking around the track for two hours and our goal is $1,000. Would you like to sponsor us?”
That is the spiel you may have heard from two earnest Relay for Life fundraisers at your door over the past week. Isobella Norman and Emma Touchet, both eight years old, are part of the Jazzy Dragons Relay team, captained by Isobella’s mom, Amy Wakelin.
The pair may be younger than your average fundraiser but the cause is important to them.
“I want to raise money to get medicine for people who have cancer so then they won’t die from it,” Emma said.
This is her first year being a part of a team, but her partner, Isobella is no rookie. She is in her third year as a part of the Jazzy Dragons. She had been asking her mom to take part and Amy said if she could raise $100 and commit to walking one hour on the track at Relay for Life, she could join. Isobella has done that both years previously, but she raised the bar this year. With the help of Emma, they have set a fundraising goal of $1,000. As of Sunday afternoon, they were already at $400 in the early going of knocking on doors.
“I like helping people and cancer is a bad thing, so I don’t want anyone to die,” Isobella said.
Besides knocking on doors, the girls are also offering to take recycling to the depot for Prince Rupert residents. So far, the duo is hard to say no to, along with Isobella’s four-year-old sister Grace, who often goes to the door with them.
Amy thinks that just speaks to the generosity of the Prince Rupert community.
“This town is amazing. I think because so many of us are affected by cancer, people just donate,” she said.
Even when they go to houses where Amy knows residents are on a Relay for Life team, they generously give $20 or $25 for the cause. As for the girls, Isobella’s mom is thankful they are so gung ho about it.
“They’re getting to the age where they know what cancer is and how horrible it is. One of their schoolmates lost their mother last year, one of my colleagues had it, they know about Sheryl (Sadorski-Gordon), so it’s starting to become more real to them,” Amy said.
She said more and more kids have been taking part in Relay for Life, which is great.
“I just think it’s just really important that they learn to give back to the community. I think we’re raising really great kids that have that sense of community,” she said.
Even with a subject as grim as cancer, it helps to have these two volunteers flashing a cute smile at the door, urging the community to do their part.