The donors: Jasmine de Pencier and Jett Jardeleza-Toole
The gift: Starting the Kids' Run for Nature
The reason: To raise money for World Wildlife Fund Canada
Jasmine de Pencier and Jett Jardeleza-Toole have been close friends for years and they both share a love of sports and animals. A couple of years ago, the two 12-year-olds decided to bring their two passions together and they came up with a fundraising event called Kids' Run for Nature. Jasmine's family had been long-time supporters of World Wildlife Fund Canada and the girls wanted to earmark donations from the run to the organization's conservation efforts. To drum up support, Jasmine and Jett reached out to friends and family members and made presentations to several schools in their Toronto neighbourhood.
The first run attracted 200 runners and the event has grown ever since, raising nearly $60,000 in total. There are now eight annual Kids' Run for Nature in Toronto, Calgary and Ottawa.
"It's incredible," Jasmine said. "We started this when we were 10 and it's become this huge thing."
The girls hope the event gets even bigger. "We have it in eight different locations this year and we would love to see it expand all across Canada. It would be amazing."