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Project HOOF aims to help local residents in need

February 11, 2015   ·   0 Comments

If there is one positive thing that could be said about the Orangeville community, it’s that residents have incredibly big hearts, and are regularly willing to come together to help those in need.

It was that community heart that led local resident Julie Thurgood to pull together Project HOOF (Helping Our Orangeville Families), a hopefully one-day non-profit aimed at helping local residents who have lost.

“It really started with an anonymous donor who wanted to give back to the community, and it completely evolved from there,” explained Ms. Thurgood. “We were working with Mayor Rob Adams at the time to see where the help was needed, and found out about a family that was really struggling to make ends meet.”

A Facebook page was set up and donations were requested from members of the community. The first fundraiser went so well that Project Hoof was able to raise over $3000 for the family, which went to help with hydro and mortgage payments. They were also able to help provide the family with Christmas gifts for their three kids.

“When this year rolled around, we wondered what we were going to do,” said Ms. Thurgood. “We didn’t have a relationship with the new Mayor yet, and it’s always hard to do a roll call to say ‘who needs help?’ and ask them to identify themselves.”

But a family did come to their attention, and Ms. Thurgood set to work on developing a way to help the family.

“We didn’t want to broadcast who this family was because of the loss they had just experienced,” she said. “We did start collecting funds and items, but it was too late to do it for Christmas. So we did an online auction afterwards to help them.”

In the original fundraiser, Ms. Thurgood ran it completely anonymously, because she didn’t want people looking at her for what was being done. However, as she discovered some people who hadn’t participated because they weren’t sure it was behind it, she decided to come forward, so that there was a level of accountability for the public seeing a real person.

“I thought maybe I should come forward to help people become more aware of it, and aware that it was legitimate,” she explained. “I just didn’t want anyone to know originally, because I didn’t want people to think I wanted the spotlight. This whole project, everything we do, is about awareness about the program and what we’re doing, not who’s doing it.”

As she started to develop the fundraiser, which would once again be run through Facebook, she decided on an auction, and found a website called Buddy Bid to run it through. The website, upon finding out what she was doing, donated their services, and several local businesses donated items for the auction.

“It was such a tragic situation, and we just wanted to be able to do all we could for the family,” said Ms. Thurgood. “The father had passed away, leaving his wife, an older daughter and two very small children. He had a heart condition, and at the time of his passing, had no life insurance. When we heard the story, we knew we had to do something.”

Once she came forward publicly as the person behind the fundraiser, the whole thing seemed to just keep expanding and growing.

“It was pretty amazing how many people and businesses came together to offer these great things to auction,” she said. “In the end, we had 52 items to auction off, and all 52 items were auctioned off.”

While the auction itself closed at the end of January, Ms. Thurgood says the fundraiser for the family is ongoing through a trust fund that has been set up at TD Bank in Orangeville. Residents can donate directly to the trust fund from there.

“I’ve seen people come together for other events, and this really blew me away,” she said. “Being a small town, even though we’ve grown from what it used to be, that sense of community is still there.”

The entire concept behind Project HOOF is to continue helping Orangeville families that are in need, providing a way to surround them as a community and remind them that they are a part of it.

“We’ve talked about setting this up as an actual non-profit, because it’s not registered right now,” said Ms. Thurgood. “We’ve had a lot of people want to drop off cash, but I’m not comfortable going that route, because it comes to me personally first. That’s not my thing – I want to be able to trace everything, and that’s part of why I want to lead it to a Non-profit.”

Other groups within the community have already partnered with Project HOOF, such as Believe Bags, who have provided Ms. Thurgood with a bag each year for the mom of the family being helped.

“This is definitely growing, and I would like to see us partner with other community services in town,” said Ms. Thurgood. “If it goes outside of Orangeville, that would be great, but right now, it’s about being a community and supporting our community.”

She added that the impact on the families, and the members of the families is something that cannot be measured, because they will always know that the community was willing to help them in a time of need.

“It doesn’t take much to give, and any small amount helps,” said Ms. Thurgood. “With our current family, you’re looking at two small children that no longer have their father. After donating, everyone goes back to their lives, but these two kids still have a life to live.”

“Knowing they have an entire community behind them through this, even not knowing who they are, speaks volumes about what Orangeville is, and that impact will stay with them.”

To make a donation to the Trust Fund, visit TD Bank and ask for the donation to be placed in the Leroux Family Trust Fund. For more information on Project Hoof, or to inquire about other donation options, email  julie@juliethurgood.com.

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