It was loud and busy in front of Sauve’s in Hudson on Sunday afternoon. Residents gathered to have a bite and to fundraise for a special member of the community.
“(Brigitte has) participated in so many fundraisers, for muscular dystrophy, and she just puts so much of herself into other people and now it’s time for us to give back to her,” said Tim Hiscox, who helped organize the fundraiser.
Brigitte O’Driscoll is a firefighter in Hudson and a Canadian Armed Forces Sergeant. She’s been serving since 2013 and is currently a door gunner at 438 squadron, a unit of the Royal Canadian Air Force.
In her spare time, she plays football and was recently selected by Team Canada to play at the world championship in Finland. But getting to the tournament is costly. Each player has to pay $4,000 to cover their own travel, food and accommodations.
READ MORE: Regina Riot players fundraise to represent Team Canada at world championship
“It’s gonna help me a ton,” said O’Driscoll. “And all of the money, that extra, is going to be split evenly with my teammates going to Finland. So it’s not only helping me. It’s helping my teammates as well.”
Hiscox, who is also a firefighter in Hudson, says he and his wife heard about O’Driscolls’ GoFundMe campaign and decided to help by organizing a small raffle to raise money.
But that eventually turned into a bigger event, once the donations from local businesses started pouring in.
“In a small community, everybody sticks up for each other, everybody helps each other out,” said O’Driscoll. “And to see the actual support here, it’s just amazing.”
“People I don’t even know, coming up to me, congratulating me and cheering me on. It’s pretty impressive and super humbling.”
O’Driscoll leaves for Finland on July 21. The tournament begins a week later.
She hopes to help bring the championship home and says there’s nothing better than to know her community will be watching and rooting for her.
Comments