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Morgan’s Big Heart

Giving back is only for those who have spent a lifetime receiving. Or is it?
Morgan Copeland of Shelburne, is already trying to “pay-it-forward” and she's just 8 years old.
The Grade 4 student at Hyland Heights has been fundraising all summer long, with proceeds from her endeavours benefitting the local dog shelter, and Sick Kids Hospital Foundation.
“Morgan has been working really hard raising money,” said Morgan's mother, Kim Gauley. “She had a lemonade stand which she donated the money made to a little boy undergoing surgery and now she is raising money to donate to the SickKids Foundation ‘Great Adventure Walk' this month.”
And Morgan isn't waiting for people to come to her, she's actively knocking doors looking for donations.
“She's been going around collecting donations and when she gets a donation she is giving them homemade craft in return,” added Kim.
The home-crafts Morgan has prepared for fall are colourful, fabric covered Styrofoam pumpkins, complete with birds and butterflies perched atop.
The lemonade stand Morgan ran at the end of her driveway, with friend Holly Westcott, age 9, was setup in July. Lemonade was sold for 50¢ a cup.
The girls raised $22.85 and they only sold one cup of lemonade! Talk about living in a generous community!
Those proceeds were gifted to Morgan's mom's coworkers son, in the form of an iTunes gift card, topped up to $25. The young man, recovering from surgery at SickKids, used the card to buy “happy” music, to feel better faster.
The Free Press asked Morgan why she wanted to raise money for charity.
“Because I'm a nice person,” she said. Simply put.
But Morgan also knows, “it doesn't feel good when you're sick”, and anyone could go to the hospital at any time.
A dog walker by profession, Morgan also chose the local dog shelter to receive proceeds from some of her fundraising efforts.
“I walk Pugsley, a pug-cross, and I get $5 every time I walk him,” Morgan said. “I want the shelter to get some money too, because there's a lot of dogs who don't have homes.”
Morgan is currently creating more decorative pumpkins to keep the fundraising going.
“My mom and I make them together by folding fabric over the pumpkins,” she said. “We can make them in seconds.”
Morgan also paints some of her pumpkins, adding glitter and stickers to really jazz them up.
Later this fall, Morgan and her mother plan to start making ornaments for the holiday season – and they both say they want to make fundraising a “year-round thing”.
“I wanted to do a bake sale too, but my mom said no,” Morgan shared.
One of Morgan's ongoing fundraisers is ‘Morgan's Big Heart' on the Sick Kids Fundraising page. There, “No donation is too small,” reminds Morgan.
In addition to walking dogs and exploring philanthropy, Morgan Copeland is also an actor. She will appear in the LP Stage Productions Inc. show, as ‘Lola', in an upcoming play, starting this November. $1 from the sale of each ticket will be donated to Morgan's Big Heart.
So, if a cute little girl knocks at your door and presents a pumpkin, you know what to do – give generously!
“I feel like her father (Daryl Copeland) and I have done something right,” said mom Kim. “What she's doing is a nice, selfless thing to do, and I couldn't be more proud.”

By Wendy Gabrek

Post date: 2015-09-03 21:08:42
Post date GMT: 2015-09-04 01:08:42
Post modified date: 2015-09-09 18:20:03
Post modified date GMT: 2015-09-09 22:20:03