The impact of the pandemic has been far-reaching and has touched every aspect of our lives. For Make-A-Wish^® Canada, it has impacted our ability to deliver life-changing wishes to so many wish kids across Canada. In fact, to protect the health of wish kids and their families, Make-A-Wish^® has paused wish-granting that involves travel and large gatherings until further notice. Right now, there are over 400 wish kids whose wishes have been postponed because of COVID-19 — and that number grows every day as this crisis continues. This means more wishes are now waiting. For our wish kids, every day of waiting is one too many.

The pandemic and the state of the nation have also impacted many of our fundraising campaigns and events, including our national partnership with the 5K Foam Fest Canadian Tour, which has raised almost $200,000 to date for Make-A-Wish. 365 Sports, the dedicated team who manages this exciting fun run, made the difficult decision to postpone their Canadian tour until 2021 to ensure the health and safety of the participants, volunteers and crew. The postponement of Foam Fest disappointed many teams and participants, as they looked forward to this annual fun summer activity in support of Make-A-Wish.

But for some, they took this as an opportunity to create their own 5K walk in the spirit of the 5K Foam Fest so that they could continue the tradition of raising funds for Make-A-Wish. Team Captain, Bessie, along with her dedicated “tribe of women who are endlessly devoted to helping others succeed,” put their creative minds together and created an event without the foam! Appropriately titled “Foamless and Fearless” their team, The Real Healthwives of BWG, will raise funds and walk the 5K distance while keeping the distance locally in their own hometown of Bradford West Gwillimbury, Ontario.  

We sat down (virtually of course) with Bessie to learn more about this exciting spin on the 5K Foam Fest event.

What inspired you to create the “5K Foamless Fest” in your hometown?

We were inspired to create the 5K Foamless Fest because of how much fun we had in 2018 and last year. We all we're looking forward to participating and conquering the obstacles, and then the sad news reading it was postponed; we thought we are going to do this with or without COVID-19, our tribe is all about keeping positive in a negative chaos! So, on our group chat we picked a date, Saturday August 29, 2020 at 8:30 a.m. and thought the name was so on point for our tank tops and our motto would be "we walk the distance while keeping the distance."

Why is it important to give back during these challenging times?

It reminds us of our core values of compassion, connections and giving back to those who are in need. We want to highlight the good that can come out of these challenging times. We want to make their wishes come true no matter the circumstance, these children rely on us. 

How can people support you?

To join our team for the walk, the contribution fee is $50.00 (note a tax receipt will be issued to you promptly, along with a swag bag from the team at the 5K Foam Fest at the end of the walk). Or consider donating to our team if you cannot participate in person.