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There are 170 sick kids in Saskatchewan who are patiently waiting for their wishes to come true.
A group called Paramedics with Heart in Regina is trying to help make those dreams happen.
It’s all part of the Saskatchewan chapter of Make-A-Wish and their new Local Heroes campaign.
Jenna Davis is a primary care paramedic with Regina EMS. She said helping the campaign was a no-brainer for the group, who work closely with sick kids and their families.
“We just want the best for these kids,” she said.
“We know that, unfortunately, they are going through some tough times, and families go through some tough times. So anything that we can do to bring some happiness back into their life, we’re all for it.”
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The group is hoping to raise $10,000, which is the average cost of one wish, by October. But they aren’t setting any limits.
“If we can raise more than $10,000, that would be great, because it could be a couple of wishes for a couple of kids,” Davis said.
The group has already started fundraising through a virtual golf tournament. It also plans to host donate-what-you-can CPR classes. People can also donate to the team through the Make-A-Wish website.
Paramedics with Heart volunteers at their Teddy Bash event last summer. Jenna Davis (second from right) says this is a big fundraising event for the group. (Jenna Davis/submitted)
Davis and the group hope to start a new tradition and raise funds for sick kids every year.
“Our team was 100-per-cent in, and I feel like we do have the resources to make this happen,” she said. “In the future, we want to make this something we do every year and make more wishes be granted.”
Working on the front lines as a paramedic is no easy feat, but Davis said wanting to help others comes naturally to the group.
“We have a passion for helping people. So I feel like that just drives us to do other things that we necessarily can’t do on the street,” she said.
“We’re there when people need us and we’re there for crises, but this is the nice part of our job.”
She said paramedics wear many different hats, but volunteering and helping the community in different ways is refreshing.
“We love working in the public and we love just doing public education on what EMS is,” she said.
Paramedics with Heart visit schools to teach youth about EMS and offer CPR training. The group visited Southey Robert School to educate its students. (Jenna Davis/submitted)
Make-A-Wish Saskatchewan
Allyson Toye is the Saskatchewan Chapter Director with Make-A-Wish.
She said every two hours a child is diagnosed with a critical illness in Canada — that’s 12 kids a day.
“For every wish we grant, we have two more wishes waiting to happen,” she said. “The phone can ring and we could get five referrals in one day.”
Last year, 102 wishes were granted to Saskatchewan kids. This is the first year for the Local Heroes campaign in the province.
“The idea came from Ontario, and it was very successful for them,” Toye said.
“It’s based on how Make-A-Wish was founded, where a little boy in 1980 decided he wanted to be a police officer for a day in Phoenix.”
She said Paramedics with Heart in Regina immediately stepped up and wanted to get involved.
“The paramedics know and work with many of our wish kids, so it’s an opportunity for them to raise funds and help make wishes come true,” she said.
The organization does not qualify for federal funding. Toye said it truly takes a village to make wishes happen.
She said Make-A-Wish is always looking for more volunteers. Toye directs interested people to reach out to the local office in Saskatoon.
Paramedics with Heart
Paramedics with Heart is a non-profit organization that started in 2006 and is made up of 19 local paramedics.
According to its website, the group’s mission is, “To enhance paramedics’ quality of life through professional and community collaboration.”
Davis said one of the main priorities for the group is education.
“We feel like not everybody understands what we do as paramedics, so we find that we need to kind of get out there and educate the public a little bit more,” she said.
Jenna Davis said Paramedics with Heart spend a lot of time in the community and can be found at events like Cathedral Arts Festival, Regina Pats games, Country Thunder and more. (Nicole Garn/980 CJME)
Davis said more people want to volunteer with the group.
“It’s been a huge success in that part and we’re just here to support not only our paramedics, but any other EMS service around us as well,” she said.
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