Case in point: Meet Jackson Burns. He raised money for the Sick Kids Foundation by hosting a “Read-A-Thon” event with us until he reached his fundraising goal of $5,000! Jackson is a 7 year old boy from Brampton, Ontario who loves soccer, basketball, swimming, and roblox! From a young age, he has understood the importance of helping those around him, whether it be his family, his friends or his community. This past Christmas, Jackson partnered with the Peel Regional Police and their Toys 4 Tots campaign. He collected 150 toys for those less fortunate in his community. He was so inspired by the kindness and generosity of others that he wanted to continue to find a way to give.

Jackson decided he would tie together his love of reading and his interest in helping sick children in the hospital by hosting a Read-A-Thon with us, Mind Growth Education! His hope was to not only raise money for the Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto but also to inspire other kids to make a positive impact and change! Jackson challenged himself to raise $5,000 while reading 5,000 minutes. Jackson chose to use our “Read Across Canada” reading log program first to keep track of his reading efforts and was able to read all the way across Canada AND across the world during his event. This was such an amazing platform for Jackson because he got to see see the progress he made along the map.

We interviewed Jackson’s mom, Louise, to find out what she had to say about their experience with us!

The interview

Question 1: Overall, how would you rate your event?
Louise: Excellent.

Question 2: What did you like about your event?
Louise: As a parent, I am always looking for ways to enrich Jackson’s life. I want to find ways for him to learn many different things as well as pick up some good character traits that he will hopefully carry into adulthood. This event gave him all that and more. Jackson enjoyed learning interesting facts about both countries around the world and major cities in Canada. I loved reading messages of support and encouragement as people made their donations. As this particular fundraiser became fairly well known, I had a lot of questions and Isabelle answered every one of my questions, always with love. There are two things, though, that I will always remember fondly. 1. Jackson was so excited to read and watch his trek go further along the map. He passed up screen time to fulfill his promise to read. He’s developed his love of reading and still continues to read very regularly. 2. Jackson felt a true sense of pride and accomplishment by raising money for such an incredible place like Sick Kids.

Question 3: What did you dislike about your event?
Louise: That it ended 🙁

Question 4: How organized was your event?
Louise: Extremely organized.

Question 5: How friendly was the staff from Mind Growth Education?
Louise: Extremely friendly.

Question 6: Was there any information that would have been helpful to know prior to your event?
Louise: Hmm – not that I can think of. I feel as though I was pretty well informed before registering.

Question 7: Was the event too long, too short or about right?
Louise: About right. 

Question 8: How likely are you to participate in one of our “Read-A-Thon” fundraising program again in the future?
Louise: Extremely likely.

Question 9: We hope you loved your experience with Mind Growth Education! If you did, would you consider writing a quick review? This helps us to continue providing great service and helps potential fundraising prospects to make confident decisions.
Louise: I would encourage parents, teachers, anyone with some influence over youth to have a Read-A-Thon with Mind Growth Education. When you have kind, compassionate people behind the scenes doing it for the right reasons, you really can’t go wrong. You will walk away from your virtual event feeling as though you have done good, contributed to a good cause. You will walk away from your virtual event with youth who have read more than they maybe have in a long time, with inspiration to continue to read more. My personal experience is one of the most memorable events in my sons life. He raised $5,000 for an incredible foundation. We had a lot of laughs, reading time together, and we grew even closer!

The Read-A-Thon Impact

The positive influence Jackson was exhibiting made the entire community light up. Jackson was featured in Jillian Harris’ “Little Leaders Series” where we spoke about his Read-A-Thon event journey! The Jillian Team even made a very generous donation to his cause! All in all, Jackson raised $5,000! $4,000 within his Great Things Happen When You Read Read-A-Thon Fundraising campaign page and an additional $1,000 was directly donated to the Sick Kids Foundation in support of Jackson’s Read-A-Thon event by the Chief of Police from the Peel Police Department (see picture below). Even strangers from across the country donated to his cause, including the Mayor of Brampton’s wife!  More importantly, Jackson read for 5,493 minutes during his Read-A-Thon Event! We couldn’t be more proud of his wonderful accomplishment! On behalf of Jackson and his family, thank you so very much and we greatly appreciate any support you were able to give!

Please note: Due to pandemic restrictions, a presentation cheque to the Sick Kids Foundation will be held once the foundation is allowed to return to its headquarters. Pictures to come!

For more information about Mind Growth Education’s Read-A-Thon Fundraising programs, please visit our website at https://mindgrowtheducation.com/ fundraising-program/ or to sign up for your own Read-A-Thon Fundraising Event for the Sick Kids Foundation, please visit the following website at: https://fundraise.sickkidsfoundation.com/read-a-thon.

Always remember “great things happen when you read!”
Isabelle
Founder of Mind Growth Education