Donations to a GoFundMe fundraiser to help a nine-year-old Whitchurch-Stouffville boy involved in an ATV accident that took the life of his mother and sister have poured in and exceeded its original goal.
The boy, his five-year-old sister Heidi and their 42-year-old mother, Michelle Bader, were riding together on the ATV when the accident occurred July 23, near Emsdale, south of Burk's Falls in Perry Township.
The funds will go toward professional counselling to help ease the child's trauma, "with an eye toward a bright, and well-adjusted future for this loving, caring, outgoing nine-year-old boy."
"The purpose of the campaign is to provide (the boy) with enough funds to cover out-of-pocket counselling expenses from now until he turns eighteen," says the appeal. "Any monies not spent on counselling can go towards his post-secondary education plans. The goal is to provide (him) with as much trauma counselling as he needs over the next decade and to make sure that he never has to go without a professional shoulder to cry on, or someone knowledgeable about grief to talk to.
"We can never take away the pain of the losses he's suffered, but we can at least provide him with a safe place to deal with his grief," says organizer Mark Holyome.
The goal was $25,000, but over $27,000 was quickly raised before the fundraiser was disabled last weekend.
Currently, the investigation is ongoing under the direction of the Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario and the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service.
Editor's Note, Oct. 16, 2023: The boy's name has been removed from the article due to privacy concerns at the request of a family member.
