More than 600 people gathered at Tudhope Park on Saturday morning for the sixth annual Charlee’s Run, a fundraiser in honour of Charlee Clare Holmes, who died in 2011, hours after her birth.
Out of the grief and pain of losing their daughter, Charlee’s parents, Dave and Mallory Holmes, started the event in her honour.
“When they heard that the neonatal intensive care unit at Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital (OSMH) was in need of funds, they thought that this was exactly how they could honour that legacy,” explained Hunter Markle, a community engagement officer with the OSMH Foundation and organizer of this year’s event.
In the past five years, Charlee’s Run has raised $310,000, which helps bring more awareness and creates a support system for families who lose their children just after birth.
“Not only do the funds provide equipment, but it provides ... for a bigger program,” Markle said. “There is a bereavement part now so that the families have as smooth of a process as they can through one of the most horrible moments of their lives.”
He says the hospital considers it an honour to carry on the work of the Holmes family.
“It’s different from any other signature event,” Markle said. “It has such a grassroots beginning.”
After two years of Charlee’s Run being held virtually, the goal this year was to raise enough to acquire 10 Halo bassinets, 10 syringe pumps, and $120,000 on top of that. As of Saturday morning, the event raised $115,000. Post-event donations will be counted until a week after the run.
“This is lifesaving equipment,” Markle said. “It’s needed in our hospital.”
More than 1,000 babies are born at OSMH each year, and the hospital wants to have the best equipment and training available to health-care professionals.
“This is Charlee’s village,” Markle said. “To have this event return to celebrate the lives of children lost, to comfort parents, and to show them they are not alone in this is an opportunity we are so grateful for.”
Charlee’s grandfather, Rick Anderson, spoke on behalf of the family during the event.
“Eleven years ago, we held Charlee for the first and the last time,” he said. “We said goodbye, afraid that it was the end of her story. We were wrong.”
Anderson says because of the event, Charlee’s story did not end on the day she died, and he thanked the community for keeping her legacy alive.
“Together in her name, we have shattered the silence surrounding pregnancy and infant loss,” he said. “We have come together as a community to show families that they are not alone in their grief.”
