Submitted. Matthew’s House is working to get the word out about its charitable program to provide respite care for families dealing with children living with serious disabilities.
Matthew’s House is named for Matthew Froese, who was born with severe cerebral palsy. He died at 9 but his legacy is this house named for him, which will ensure that families can get the short breaks they need to maintain their strength for the daily challenges they deal with.
The Community Outreach Co-ordinator for MLA Darryl Plecas, Surjit Atwal, organized a coffee party for them, because Mr. Atwal himself lives with a milder form of cerebral palsy and understands the importance of having such a facility close to home.
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The coffee party was hosted at Darryl Plecas’s local Constituency Office. Darryl Plecas, MLA Abbotsford South, welcomed Matthew’s father, Doug Froese, and his grandfather, Paul McLeod. In attendance were Patricia Ross, Abbotsford City Council, Tina Stewart, Executive Director, Abbotsford Downtown Business Association, Karen McLean, Executive Director of the Fraser Valley Child Development Centre, and local businesspeople Bobby Sparks, Lyle Caldwell, and Trenton Poy, who are all active supporters of community projects in Abbotsford. Four UFV students who had already helped to promote the program were there to show their continued support.
Alan Cavin, Resource Development Co-ordinator for Matthew’s House came with two staff members to show a five-minute video to introduce Matthew, his condition, his short life, and the new building named for him, chat about the program over coffee, and encourage everyone in attendance to get involved by helping to promote and support the program.
Starbucks contributed to the effort by providing their coffee free and sending staff members to serve it. The people in attendance raised $186, adding to amounts raised at other coffee parties held in April to help support this charity.