Lethbridge-area single mother, Trina Briere, said she sees her children blossoming in recent years even after the sudden loss of their father.
“They’re learning to interact with people and talk with people and be more positive with them as opposed to hiding away in a corner,” she said.
Briere said it’s all thanks to a local initiative called Calf 4 Kids in which calves are sold for donations to Lethbridge area families.
“It makes sure that they can have shoes, school supplies… anything that actually helps them be able to express themselves more and be able to have the opportunity to express themselves,” she said.
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Don Schan started the program in 2005 to help a neighbor with school fees after the sudden passing of her husband, but continued on to financially support numerous children through school following the tragic death of a parent.
“[We’ve helped] lots,” Schan said. “And some of them, we’ve put their children right through school [some of them] from [grades] one to 12.”
Schan said especially given the COVID-19 pandemic, he wants to help.
“It just makes a huge difference to a lot of families,” Schan said. “Because we pay private school fees too, and that’s huge to some families. It can be upwards of $10,000. We pay that and extracurricular.”
The program is expanding this year to include fees for children’s counselling.
“I said I’ve got to try this because these kids have a few years to be kids and I don’t want to see them lost and go the wrong way,” Schan said.
He says even though the main fundraising event is cancelled this year he’s still trying to find more families in need.
“We had — I think it was 30 children — I can’t remember how many families, eight or nine families last year,” Schn said. “But there’s a lot more that have never heard about it.”
Briere said she would encourage any families dealing with a similar loss to reach out to Don Schan and the Calf 4 Kids program for support.
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“Calf 4 Kids has definitely helped out with being able to put my kids into things like taekwondo which all four of them are in,” Briere said.
“It helps families be able to give the kids the things they normally wouldn’t be able to give them.”
More than $260,000 has been raised by Calf 4 Kids since its launch.
Schan hopes to see that continue for many years to come.