Better Winnipeg: Jenna’s Toonies For Tulips campaign blooms again to fight Parkinson’s disease

With April being Parkinson awareness month, Jenna Sigurdson is once again doing what she can to raise money for the cause and ultimately find a cure for the progressive neurological disease.

There are six thousand Manitobans living with Parkinson’s disease. There’s no cure.

In a little over four years, Jenna has raised $50,000 by canvassing door-to-door and selling bookmarks.

She started pounding the pavement when she was 10, right after finding out that her dad was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

“As soon as I found out I wanted to help,” said Jenna.

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“She wanted to set a goal for $1,000 dollars,” explained Jenna’s dad Blair Sigurdson. “She went to over 2,000 doors in her first year and she took her mom out in rain or shine.”

Speaking to a crowd of 600 would intimidate most people, but the 14-year-old is deeply motivated by the cause. On April 11, World Parkinson’s Day, the grade nine student arranged a school-wide assembly to increase awareness about the disease.

“You might think it takes them too long to enter a room, to walk, sit or stand, but they’re moving as fast as their body will allow them to,” said Jenna.

After her first year of canvassing her neighbourhood to raise money for Parkinson Canada, Jenna created a bookmark with a picture of red tulips on the front, which symbolizes Parkinson’s disease, and facts about the illness on the back.

At the age of 11, Jenna approached a printing company to sponsor her grassroots campaign called Jenna’s Toonies for Tulips. She also met with Red River Co-Op owners in Winnipeg, who agreed to sell the bookmarks at their stores.

She’s now onto her fourth bookmark design.

“Jenna has come up with this concept herself, she’s reached out to corporations on her own,” said Lorri Apps, managing director for Parkinson Canada in Manitoba.

“It’s absolutely amazing that a girl who is 14 years old has had this ambition and this desire.”

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This year Jenna collected prizes to encourage students to buy her bookmarks at her school. It’s just another part to organize, but this teenager doesn’t mind. All she has to think about is the growing effort her dad puts into everyday tasks.

“He’s always positive about it, which is the good part,” said Jenna. “He would never give up and that’s why I’m not willing to give up.