Shelburne Town Pharmacy hosts 9th annual fundraiser for SickKids Hospital

June 16, 2022 · 0 Comments

Written By Brian Lockhart

Shelburne Town Pharmacy welcomed visitors to its 9th Annual SickKids Fundraiser, held on the street in front of the pharmacy on Sunday, June 12.

The pharmacy held the fundraiser for the past two years but it had to be a limited indoor event due to the pandemic. This year, pharmacy owner Sanjay Lekhi, and Brenda Haines brought the full event back to the street with a full lineup of fun activities.

There was food, music, a visit from emergency service personnel, games, and even dog grooming available on site.

The event was well attended with many people having fun while contributing to a good cause.

Sanjay chose SickKids to be the beneficiary of the annual event because “kids aren’t born making bad decisions, they are just born.”

He said his family is lucky in that no has ever needed to go to or be hospitalized at SickKids, however, he recognizes the importance of helping other children who are there.

“We do this every year – we started in 2014,” Sanjay explained. “Adults make bad decisions, like doing drugs, but kids don’t. If any child has some kind of disease or injury, it’s our responsibility,” he said of everyone in society needing to pitch in to help a sick or injured child. “Nobody in my family or friends have been to SickKids, but being in a pharmacy we see the prescriptions some kids need – this can happen to anybody. They may go to other hospitals, but when they have to go to SickKids we know it means they will be taken care of.”

The activities on site featured a variety of different things to keep people busy and entertained. The kids enjoyed games and a bouncy castle supplied by volunteers.

“We have Lindsay, she’s a dog groomer, her husband Jeff has set up a lot of games,” Sanjay said. “All the proceeds will be going to SickKids. We have face painting, Trainer Games has a booth, Ice River Springs is supplying all the water bottles. We have a local resident serving food, a barbecue with hamburgers and hotdogs, Giant Tiger donated all the buns. There’s raffle tickets and a lot of prizes.”

Along with Sanjay, Brenda Haines is a local resident and business owner at Shelburne Transporter, who helps plan and organize the event.

The event got off to a good start with an early $1,000 donation.

SickKids, like every hospital in Ontario, relies heavily on donations.

Shelburne Town Pharmacy’s event will help them continue their mission with caring for children.