Helping make wishes come true
Mark Riffel is a cancer survivor who holds the unique position of a former Wish Child and is a current supporter and donor to the Children's Wish Foundation. "I was given a second chance and I don't want to waste it."
True to his word, Mark and his wife Shelley have been helping make wishes come true with their annual donations to the Saskatchewan Chapter of the Children's Wish Foundation, since 2006. Their generous donations are helping change and better the lives of so many children who are now on the road that he once travelled.
"I get emotional talking about it", says Mark, as he recalls himself as a fifteen-year old boy being brought the news. "I understood the severity of what I had, but looking back, I was too young to understand what it meant to die."
After Mark's final chemotherapy treatment in 1993, he was given a wish from the Wish Foundation, and like any other teenage boy - he wished for a car stereo. "The stereo was like a trophy. I had cancer - I survived. It was really important to me."
Mark's wishes-come-true didn't end there; he met his wife Shelley in 2002, the same year he took over BN Metals from his father, Bill Nimalovitch. The business grew immensely in the first couple of years, and has been on the upward climb ever since; with a full staff and two locations - Affiliated Auto Wrecking and BN Metals, and mountains of metal to recycle, Mark stays mindful of his family, his children and what is important to him.
Although Mark's responsibilities and commitments seem endless, he will never forget those who helped him when he needed them most and the countless others who have fought and won, or fought and lost the battle of their life.
"The Children's Wish Foundation is a fabulous organization. I send my donation every year around Christmas time, and strive to do more each year. The wishes make an impact on the human spirit, on the individual life of the child, and that is what is important to me."
Children's Wish Foundation of Canada is the largest and only all-Canadian wish granting charity dedicated to granting wishes to Canadian children between the ages of 3 and 17 who are diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. For more than 30 years, Children's Wish has worked tirelessly to grant heartfelt wishes to nearly 25,000 children and their families - that's three wishes each and every day, all year long!
Visit http://www.childrenswish.ca/
Children's Wish Foundation of Canada is the largest and only all-Canadian wish granting charity dedicated to granting wishes to Canadian children between the ages of 3 and 17 who are diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. For more than 30 years, Children's Wish has worked tirelessly to grant heartfelt wishes to nearly 25,000 children and their families - that's three wishes each and every day, all year long!
Visit http://www.exileisland.ca/
The Bridge City Bicycle Co-op (BCBC) is a volunteer-run, non-profit cooperative that offers a drop-in workspace, tool and supplies, and participatory bicycle maintenance education; where youth and adults of all ages can come and learn how to fix their own bicycles or build a bicycle using donated frames and parts. The BCBC is open and accessible to all. The BCBC is located at the Core Neighbourhood Youth Co-op and operates in harmony with CNYC goals, values, and programs.