At the Blue Track (1738 4th Line) in Ohsweken, on Saturday September 16th, 2023, Mohawk Village Memorial Park had a walkathon/fundraising event titled “Walk for the Park” in honor of all children who were students of the Mushhole.
Individuals who participated in this fundraising event collected pledges and sponsors from donors in exchange for walking or running. Sponsored donations were collected by pledge sheets or Mohawk Village Memorial Park’s Canada Helps online campaign page.
Six Nations Councillor, Sherri-lyn Hill MC’d the event, which included giving a speech to encourage participants and to remind everyone of the reason we are honouring the children of the Mushhole. She was then joined by Mike Montour who gave the Thanksgiving Address.
Each participant of the “Walk for the Park” walked/ran a distance of their choosing. Donna Duric of Two Row Times, ran from the grounds of the former Mohawk Institute Residential School to our event at the Blue Track, an incredible 23.5 km! Others walked/ran various laps around the Blue Track.
Following the walk, individuals who participated in the September’s 16th event received a medal for participating in the walk that honours all residential school children and for their Park fundraising efforts. Lunch was available at 11, which included traditional corn soup; ham and scone, and strawberry drinks.
Overall, “Walk for the Park” was a success and we hope to continue this event annually. To date we raised an estimate of $10,000! These funds will help us in achieving our goal of building a commemorative park for all the residential school students who attended the Mushhole.
Mohawk Village Memorial Park would like to thank all the individuals who participated in our event, as well as the volunteers who helped our event become a success.
Thank you to Southwind Smokes who donated funds for the lunch and Dixieland Grill who prepared the meal at a discounted price.
Thank you again to all who participated, volunteered, donated their services and funds.
We would like to make a special thank you to the following individuals: Residential School survivor, John Elliott, who is the top fundraiser of the “Walk for the Park”, as he gathered the most sponsorships for an estimated total of $4300. While the top fundraising team on our Canada helps page are: two youths from Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, Ava and Azure.
These best friends raised $500.00! Their campaign page can be found at https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/mohawk-village-memorial-park/p2p/ParkRun2023/team/ava-azure-walk-it-out/
The Walk for the Park campaign ends March 31, 2024
