Ask any father about Father’s Day or their related gift ideas, and they’ll likely tell you that spending quality time with their children is the gift they want most.
I seldom allow this space to become a platform for self-promotion of corporate interests. It never sits well with me unless there is a message being conveyed which I genuinely understand and see as being nothing less than sincere. The following story would be one of those genuine and honest situations.
I received an email from a communications firm who works with Westjet Airlines about an initiative they undertook to help give a father from Saskatchewan, who has a 4 year old son that suffers from a congenital heart condition, some quality time with his son who is being treated at a children’s hospital in Edmonton.
Four-year old Joel Grimard from Prud’homme, Saskatchewan was diagnosed a few months after birth with tricuspid atresia, a congenital heart condition, and has spent much of his young life in the hospital. Joel’s father Marc works in Saskatoon to support the family, while his seven-year-old brother, Mathieu, attends a local Saskatoon school. Angela, the boys’ mother, stays with Joel at Ronald McDonald House Northern Alberta while he receives treatment at the Stollery Children’s Hospital. Often, the family is separated for weeks at a time.
For the Grimard family and many others with sick or chronically ill children across Canada, they face tough choices every day, trying to balance the needs of a family with a sick child against the need to support the family financially.
Photo Credit: Westjet
In leading up to Father’s Day, an idea sprung from Westjet, to provide Marc with a rare opportunity to spend a few days of quality time with his son as well as his wife in Edmonton. Instead of arranging time off for Marc from his employer Saskatoon Transit, it was decided that Medel Villena, a Westjet employee from Saskatoon would train to take over the work that Marc carried out for a period of 5 days, so that Marc’s employer would not have to accommodate for the absence.
The training took place without Marc’s knowledge and when Marc agreed to participate in what he was told was a company training video, he met Videl who explained what was going on and then presented him with a ticket for him and his other son to fly to Edmonton.
All of this was captured on video, including the emotions felt by Marc and fellow employees as well as those felt when his young son saw his Dad waiting for him in his hospital room. The family then spent a week together living as they are used to, but instead of being at home in Saskatoon, they were living together at Ronald McDonald House in Edmonton.
I’ve included the video below for you to view (have some tissue ready…I’m warning you), and after doing so, I want you to read the request being made below:
Westjet has committed to carrying out more of these reunion opportunities, but in order for them to do so, they need our help. Westjet has agreed to carry out an additional reunion such as what we saw in the above video portrays for each 100,000 views this video receives, up to a maximum of 500,000 views (or 5 reunions). As of the time this article is being prepared the video stands at just over 250,000 views, or essentially halfway to the maximum goal.
Photo Credit: Westjet
Share the video. Share it on your Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn or whatever other social media profiles you have. Encourage others to watch it as well. Simply by watching, you can help other families experience what the Grimard’s did as well.
Does this involve plugging a corporation for their own benefit? Sure…to a degree. But when the true goal of the initiative is one based on human values and not just corporate values, I think its not only excusable, but one that I’m okay to support and encourage.
One of Steven Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is to think win-win. By placing value and respect on the understanding that a “win” for all is ultimately a better long-term resolution than if only one person in the situation had got his way. This is a situation where the successful resolution of this endeavour will have multiple beneficiaries, and to that end I see the promoting of this initiative as a good thing to do.
Quality time with my children is one of the greatest joys I have when it comes to just being a dad. To that end I’m more than happy to do what I can to help other father’s experience the same joy.
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