Port Alberni resident Angel Magnussen, who is known for her selfless commitment to helping make the lives of children impacted by medical illness better, has won a nation-wide contest for her work.
Magnussen is a self-professed modern-day missionary who is dedicated to helping sick kids. At a young age, Magnussen started the non-profit organization Hugginz by Angel, for which she sews cozy blankets, pillows and other items.
Her goal? To wrap up critically ill kids and kids with special needs in a warm hug. According to her Hugginz Facebook page, she fills every blanket with her love, hugs and prayers before sending it off.
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Along with her hand-sewn blankets, Magnussen has fundraised more than $330,000 over the years for various Canadian and B.C. charities.
Part of her passion comes from her own medical history. Magnussen was born with an extra 21st chromosome and lives with Down Syndrome.
Magnussen says she has many medical issues, but she doesn’t let them stop her, instead it’s what keeps her motivated.
“I want to help sick kids to not be scared when they are in the hospital and to help them have the best medical treatment so they can go home from hospital to be with their families,” she said on her organization’s Facebook page.
The nation-wide Search for Goodness contest was launched in May and Canadians had until July 25 to nominate a person or small team, who goes above and beyond in their community. People were then encouraged to vote for their favourite until July 31. There were more than 460 nominations and more than 232,000 votes. The 10 nominees with the most votes moved on to the final round where the winner was chosen by a panel of judges at Post Foods Canada.
For all her hard work Magnussen will receive $10,000 to go towards continuing her beautiful blankets for sick kids.
To learn more about Hugginz by Angel you can follow her on Facebook.
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