In loving memory of our son, we created an annual celebration around his birthday, June 19th, to “celebrate the child in all of us”. The first year in 2008, with his Grade one class and his sister’s grade four class, we built a tile mosaic of a chameleon. It lies between two big chestnut trees at the school where Jonah spent much of his time collecting chestnuts, digging for dinosaur bones, and looking for lizards. We also celebrated the joy of youth and play by having an extended recess in his honour and encouraged everyone, students and teachers, to play together. The following year we carried on this theme with a magic show to raise money for a children’s charity. This has now become an annual tradition. With the help of everyone involved, it’s a magical evening of love, laughter and hope.

Celebrate the Child is about celebrating the joy of youth, the importance of living in the moment, and having fun. We raise money each year for a different children’s charity. The charities we have supported so far include Canuck Place, Make a Wish Foundation, Raise-A-Reader and Free the Children. Here’s a video of Emma, Hannah & Jeff visiting the one room school that was built in the Maasai Mara region of Kenya as a result of our A Magical Evening fundraiser.

Enjoy a video from our family’s 2016 trip to Minga Lodge/Galapagos Island, Ecuador. While there we had the opportunity to work on a fresh water project with the children’s charity group Me 2 We/Free the Children.

In 2015 we set up an endowment fund with the Vancouver Foundation to provide lasting benefit to organizations that support children’s charities. To donate please go to:

http://www.vancouverfoundation.ca/celebratethechild