Thank you!

Thank you for the tremendous support for the Canuck Place Children's Hospice hosted by the Orange Hippos, AKA Emmett. $3775 was raised and this amount was tripled by corporate donors. The thermometer should have been demolished as the goal was $1000 - but it proved to be very flexible.

Emmett also is sharing his hippotherapy videos with Valley Therapeutic Equestrian Association to present at their Open House. Emmett will continue with Hippotherapy after the holidays. He already has a supply of carrots for his horse, Fiona. (and by his horse, we mean the horse that he rides when he is at a session. Emmett does not have his own horse!)

Emmett has been out at soccer again - and it is great to see how his skill has improved over the fall. We also were able to test out the "new to us" power chair. Emmett gave it two thumbs up. Huge thanks to Sportability BC for making this time and space available!

We hope that you have a very Merry Christmas. Emmett's special project was gifted to Lynne, who is not only one of the donors to the Canuck Place fundraiser, but she's also one of the volunteers at hippotherapy.

Rain has been a serious topic of discussion in BC all fall. You might remember Emmett's October entry into weather reporting. If not, you can see it here.

BC has just finished a third 'Atmospheric River' in less than 2 weeks - and this is after one of the wettest fall seasons on record. Blog readers will remember that our October camping trip was almost entirely drenched in rain. We didn't have this rain gauge up and running for the first atmospheric river. The second one that hit was coupled with high winds and that toppled the rain gauge. But we captured the most recent one (for the record, the first was the worst, the second was not good but it was not as bad as the second one. These weather updates focus on this most recent atmospheric river. By the way, atmospheric river is a term coined in the 1990's although it's really come to everyones' attention this year.

Literally a ton of rain falling in a 24 hour period - and this has been happening over and over again - has been what has devastated BC. In Emmett's words, "Grandpa Roger and Grandma Rhonda live on a mountain that has been turned into an island.", that is because the roads to their home were literally under more than a metre of water.

Some have asked how we are and that is greatly appreciated. Our homes and families are safe. The Sumas Prairie flooding is about 3 kilometres from us. The elevation in those areas is approximately 1 metre above sea level. Emmett's family live at elevation levels from 40 to 50 metres above sea level. We also live on relatively level ground thus are not at risk of mud slides - which have been devastating in the mountain areas throughout BC. The trans Canada highway at Abbotsford has been underwater. Mud slides, washed out bridges and roads, and flooding has literally caused the evacuation of complete cities and the complete disruption of all road and rail traffic to the West Coast. For us, we move on relatively normally. But we have friends who have lost everything. BC is under a state of emergency.

We hope that this helps you understand a bit more about the floods in BC - an internet search will provide many more shocking details.

Emmett's Goal of $1000 has been met and surpassed in the first seven days - the current total is $1375.00. This Canuck Place Fundraiser held by the Orange Hippos is going on to December 10th; do you think that it is possible that we might break through the top of the thermometer! Maybe even exceed last year's total of $1900! When you donate today, your contribution will support kids and families at Canuck Place. And, if you donate before Nov. 30, your gift will be tripled thanks to Canuck Places' generous matching sponsors LMS Reinforcing Steel Group and friends, Nicola Wealth and friends and Coromandel Properties.

In our last post we shared some of the woodworking details that Emmett and I have been doing. Today, the next part of the reveal let's you see some of Emmett's art - you'll have to watch the video to see the Special Guest Artist that Emmett invited to help out! (Well, if you keep scrolling you'll see the special artist too!)

Who are the Orange Hippos?

Well, Emmett is the Orange Hippo and everyone who supports him is part of his Orange Hippos' team!

2021 has been a year that western Canada, BC specifically, won't forget for years to come. Not only the second year of the pandemic with many restrictions, but summer saw an extreme heat wave hit which was followed by extreme forest fires. Then this November an extreme atmospheric river dropped over 150mm and more over our province which led to extreme flooding, mud slides, and the west coast being cut off by land (road and rail) from eastern Canada.  There is a lot of turmoil and concern - and there is no exaggeration in the multiple use of the word 'extreme'.

Emmett is Fundraising for Canuck Place. Who is Canuck Place Children's Hospice? This organization is there for families when they are overwhelmed by the extreme medical needs that a child in their family is facing. That is how we met Canuck Place. In 2015 Emmett was newly diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, Type 1, by specialists at BC Children's Hospital and we were introduced to Canuck Place. And we've continued our involvement with Canuck Place and we appreciate having an opportunity to give back a little bit to them. There are two locations: one in Vancouver just minutes from BC Children's Hospital and one in Abbotsford.

Want to join the Orange Hippos? Well, you're already an Orange Hippo because you're reading this. If you'd like to support the many children and families who are supported by Canuck Place Children's Hospice, you can click here to make a donation: https://my.canuckplace.org/orangehippos

Emmett and I are working on a special project that will be given to one person who makes a donation to Canuck Place. Stay tuned! Emmett has a lot of work ahead of him - in this video Emmett is supervising my work.