Newborn Fundraiser Results

$26,000 Raised for Mikinakoos Children's Fund and Indigenous Newborns in Northern Ontario

Mikinakoos Children's Fund is celebrating a powerful show of community generosity this holiday season, after donors across Thunder Bay and throughout Ontario helped raise more than $20,000 to support Indigenous newborns in remote Northern First Nations.
This year's campaign focused on providing free diapers, formula, breast pumps, teething toys and other baby supplies to families in remote, fly-in First Nations communities across Northern Ontario, where the cost of essentials can be up to four times higher than in southern regions, if they are available at all. Every $200 raised provides a new mother with essential supplies for her baby during one of the most meaningful phases of their relationship.

“The outpouring of support for Indigenous newborns we have seen this holiday season is absolutely incredible,” says Stephanie Paxton, Executive Director at Mikinakoos. “Every donation is helping us reach more families and ensure no mother has to go without the basics for her baby. We're deeply grateful to everyone who has contributed. The funds raised as of today will provide diapers, formula and more to over a hundred new moms and newborns.”

Poverty in Northern Indigenous communities is real and ongoing. Alex Fox, a Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Coordinator at Sachigo Lake First Nation, says the impact of this support is immediate and significant:

“It becomes very stressful for mothers and infants when there's no supplies available at the local stores. These programs are much needed and go a long way.”

 

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Support came from across Ontario, from monetary donations to donations of diapers, formula and handmade quilts. Standout support comes from Sioux Lookout Regional Physicians Services Inc., who generously donated $10,000 to the newborn campaign, funds equivalent to 20,000 diapers, which smashed Mikinakoos' donation goal.

Want to support Mikinakoos in their goal of ending child poverty in Northern Ontario? Click here to make an online donation.