Judy Martin has done a lot in her life — from her hands-on work as president of the board at Batshaw Youth and Family Services to her creative fundraising for the Cedars Cancer Centre.
All the while, she has maintained her positive attitude and desire to give back.
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Martin became acquainted with Batshaw when her mother started taking in children from what was then called the Youth Horizon’s Foundation.
“My own mother had been a member of the board when I was a teenager … we used to have kids coming to our house baking cookies with my mother,” she remembers.
She started by planning a fundraiser and soon rose to president of the board of Batshaw — a position she held for 22 years.
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“It really is a privilege and I’m lucky to be able to do what I do for these kids,” she told Global News, noting that she still keeps in touch with some of the children.
“The time I spend with these kids over the years — because some of them I’ve spent years with, and then they leave our care — the relationship has built up to one of trust.”
Martin faced her own battle in 2015 when she was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer. Within a week, she was in chemotherapy.
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“We did surgery and we did a radical mastectomy, which was my choice, and then we did radiation and we were done in a year and a half.”
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After her experience, she donated a bell to the Cedars Cancer Centre for chemo patients to ring at the end of their treatment.
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She also created a comfort kit to deliver to every cancer patient at the MUHC.
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“It is really my way to pay it forward and to say ‘thank you’ for everything that was done for me to get better,” she told Global News.
“Just take any opportunity you have to give back in some small way … It doesn’t cost anything to be kind, to be nice, to be caring and to give back. It doesn’t cost anything.”
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