Santa's Video Message of Hope, 2020
Many of our long-term friends will remember the story of Lillian Pottage, who two years ago was a five-year-old girl who had just come out of the very long and dark tunnel of childhood cancer. That story can be found at HTTPS://www.fivepointsmedia.ca/story-of-heroes-and-dragons-2018.html
A year later, we visited Lillian again, but we found a very different child, who after a year of good health was strong, vibrant, enthusiastic for life, and headed to what we all thought was a bright and brilliant future. That story can be found at HTTPS://www.fivepointsmedia.ca/how-you-thank-a-dragon-2019.html
During the past two years, our team has taken a personal interest in the health of vitality of this young super warrior and her whole family, and we have become friends with both their mother and grandmother. So, like so many others, it hit us like a punch to the gut when we heard a few months ago that Lillian was once again facing the challenge of leukaemia. There was nothing we could do but hope for her recovery.
A couple of weeks ago, we received a message from Mark Glover, the owner of Fits Like A Glover Photography, who told us how he and his father, Stephen Glover, a professional Santa Claus, were producing personalized videos for children in our region as a way to compensate for the restrictions of COVID-19.
There is a more than fair cost for these videos, but pursuant to our policy of supporting only charity and benevolent community groups, we could not see how we could report on the project. Then Mark and Stephen listened to our story about Lillian and her sisters, and they volunteered to produce a video to share their story. They asked for nothing in exchange, which made their offer benevolent, and here we are 😉
If you want to see a miracle on Christmas, watch this video. When you see the girls’ reactions, which are totally honest, be sure to consider all that each of them has been through during 2020 and before. After seeing the video produced by Mark with Stephen as Santa Claus, none of the children denied the source, nor the authenticity of the magical elf who somehow knew so much about them.
For more information, please email Mark at fitslikeagloverphotography@gmail.com, or call him at (705)-716-9097.
If you want to follow Lillian’s journey, please visit www.facebook.com/love4lillian
We would like to thank the following sponsors of the Ontario Community Awareness Network. These businesses show they care about our shared community by helping us to provide a locally-focused truly local voice to you and your neighbours. They also enable our crew to be able to continue providing donated services to promote local benevolent community groups and charities based in The City of Barrie, the Town of Innisfil, and the Township of Oro-Medonte.
Assisting You Social - Social Media Management
Backcountry K9 Kennel - Day Care, Overnight, and Grooming
BarterPay Simcoe County - Business Promotion
Beauty & Babes - Salon and Spa
Checkered Door - Transition to Adult ASD
Enterprise Mechanical Inc. - Heating and Air Conditioning
Family TLC - Family Counselling and Therapy
Growing Minds Learning Centre - Daycare Centre
Hwear Plus/Canadian Toggle - Personal Protection
Imagine Laserworks Barrie - Laser Acupuncture Services
Jack’s Urban Jungle - Indoor Adventure Park
Latchman Insurance Brokers Limited - Providing All Types
LiceSquad.com Barrie South Simcoe - Lice Removal
Michael Enterprise Audio & Visual
Still Moving Osteopathy - People and Pets
Theatre By The Bay - Live Performances
3B Solutions - Video and Media
For more information about how your business can benefit from membership in the Ontario Community Awareness Network, please visit www.cityofbarrie.net
Videography and Post-production by John Ironside
