Help Melissa raise money

Hi Friends,

I’m hoping to take a minute of your time to tell you a little bit about our PEI Marathon relay team “Sammy & Reid’s Sweethearts”. 

Our team is made up of myself, my husband Rory MacDonald, my mom Janice Burke, my brother David Burke, and our amazing friends Beth King, Mary-Beth McAskill, and support staff Nicole Dennis. Our team is running and fundraising for the Canadian Mental Health Association this year in honor of two very special souls. 

First is our beautiful baby boy, Samuel Reid MacDonald, who was born sleeping July 10th of 2022. October 15th also marks pregnancy and infant loss awareness day and I would be remiss if I didn’t mention this important occasion. Sammy guides us in all that we do and we feel him on every run. We will honor and remember Sammy, along with our beautiful niece Nora on this day.

The second special human we are running in support of is my father, Reid Burke. 

Dad was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD for short) in fall of 2021. FTD is a neurodegenerative disease for which there is no cure. It has been a devastating diagnosis for my dad and for our whole family. 

Prior to his diagnosis Dad worked for the Canadian Mental Health Association for over 30 years and was a passionate advocate for mental health services up until his retirement in 2020. In his day he also ran several PEI half marathons!

Running has been a healthy outlet for the grief our family has experienced over the past several years and this past year especially. We are truly grateful to be able to do it.

As a registered nurse who works within the area of mental health and addictions I know first hand the importance of having organizations like CMHA to promote and support the mental wellness of all Islander’s. 

You can read more about the organization and their mission here:

https://pei.cmha.ca/our-vision-mission-and-values/

If you are in a position to donate, please consider donating to this wonderful organization.

Prayers/positive vibes are also accepted and welcome as a few of us are coming out of running retirement for this event!