It’s a case of “the little cookie that could.”
When Mary Cardle set out to raise funds for the Down Syndrome Research Foundation at the Burnaby Farmers’ Market a couple Saturdays ago, she expected to make couple hundred bucks, if that.
“Of all the days, it was also raining,” said Cardle, adding she’d never had a table at the market before.
Cardle was selling homemade cookies by donation, with proceeds going towards sponsoring her team for the upcoming Run Up for Downs race. “Miss A’s Cookies,” named after Cardle’s daughter Ainsley, who has Down syndrome, ended up drawing in a very generous individual.
A Burnaby resident stopped by her table and handed her $100 for about 20 cookies. That alone, surprised Cardle.
“I said, ‘Are you serious?’ It’s just some cookies!” she said.
After a short conversation, Cardle said the woman expressed to her how touched she was by what Cardle was doing. But her appreciation didn’t end there.
When Cardle dropped by the foundation the following Monday, she discovered that the woman had made a $5,000 donation in Cardle’s name.
“I just burst into tears,” she said. “You always hear about these stories, but it’s never you.”
The woman who made the donation wishes to remain anonymous. Cardle isn’t sure whether she has a personal connection to Down syndrome that would have prompted the donation.
“Something just really resonated with her,” she said.
Dawn McKenna, executive director of the Down Syndrome Research Foundation, said donations like this don’t happen very often, especially not from someone who has no connection to the foundation.
“This is the first time I’ve seen something like this, and I’ve been here 16 years,” McKenna told the NOW.
She said the money will go towards the foundation’s programs, which include speech and occupational therapy. The organization gets 76 per cent of its revenue from fundraising and McKenna said this donation will help them to continue offering subsidized programs.
“It’s just really nice to see, especially with all the bad news that’s out there,” she said.
