Katie Eriksen and Chelsea McConnell first crossed paths over a decade ago while working at the Langford Boston Pizza. Over countless shifts and time spent outside of work, the two became close friends, going through major life milestones together – meeting their husbands, facing fertility challenges, and celebrating the arrival of their first children.
But recently, Eriksen’s journey took an unexpected turn. Her six-month-old daughter, Faith, was diagnosed with a rare, aggressive form of cancer – a stage 4 malignant rhabdoid tumour that had spread to her lungs – on Oct. 18.
Dismayed by the news, McConnell searched for ways to support her friend’s young family.
“I just had this need to do something,” said McConnell. “I can't physically do something to help Faith but what I can do is help relieve some sort of financial burden, so this is how it started."
While brainstorming fundraising ideas, McConnell considered returning to her waitressing roots, planning to donate an evening’s worth of earnings and tips to help the Eriksen family. After rallying a few mutual friends she reached out to the Saanich Boston Pizza and pitched the idea to management and they agreed.
What began as a “joke” quickly snowballed into a full-fledged fundraiser. Within five days, McConnell and her friends organized a bottle drive, secured $10,000 in raffle prizes donated by local businesses, and raised in the neighbourhood of $15,000 from food and ticket sales.
In parallel to the Boston Pizza fundraiser, a GoFundMe page, with an initial goal of $20,000 already amassed just shy of $50,000.
Amazed by the outpouring of support coming from the Greater Victoria community, McConnell extended personal thanks to everyone who contributed, regardless of the size of their donation.
“It's again a testament to the community’s [kindness],” she said. “We received donations anywhere from $10 to $1,000. You can see how it all adds and it's all contributing to helping them.”
With this money, McConnell hopes to support the young Langford family as they navigate baby Faith's cancer treatment journey.
Despite the ongoing emotional roller-coaster since their daughter’s official diagnosis, Katie and her husband Ryan expressed their gratitude for the overwhelming support they have received.
“We're completely overwhelmed with the love and generosity of everyone,” said Katie. “It's been amazing how much the community has come together for us. It really helped us during these times.”
As they paced the halls of BC Children’s intensive care unit and their hotel room daily, the couple highlighted how this support arrived at a critical moment in their lives.
“It's been helping us to stay in Vancouver and be with Faith during her treatment,” said Katie. “We are unsure just about the chemotherapy management, some of the medications are not completely covered under MSP so there are possibly some extra costs added to that as well as just the travel back and forth.”
As Faith underwent her first round of treatment last week, Katie and Ryan noted that she was doing better. They are now waiting for her condition to stabilize before she can be transferred to the oncology ward.
Reiterating his gratitude to every donor, Ryan emphasized the importance of listening to one’s instincts when dealing with their baby’s health.
“We went in for potential dehydration and, next thing you know, she had a little enlarged liver and cancer. It was quite shocking,” he said. “We do not want to scare parents but trust your gut and seek professional help if you think something is off because you never know.”
Donations can be made online at https://bit.ly/3C2QKXz.
