While the Quinn’s Legacy Run Society officially dissolved in March this year, and the annual run will no longer be taking place every August, the founders of the non-profit group promise they will continue their advocacy efforts on behalf of bereaved parents in other ways.
“I guess for us, it’s a huge labour of love, and we just felt [the run] had run its course, so to speak,” said Sarah Cormier, a co-founder of the society that puts on the annual Quinn's Legacy Run. “With not doing [the run] last summer with the restrictions, we just felt for us, the time had come to call it quits in that sense.”
She added she would like the society to return in a different shape or form, but that she is not quite sure what that will look like.
“We’ll still continue to advocate and we’re still available to give those one-time financial payments to parents who lose an infant,” she said. “But all our board members are volunteers, it’s a lot of work and people are moving forward.”
Cormier and her husband Lee founded the Quinn’s Legacy Run after their infant daughter Quinn passed away in her sleep in December 2014 at the age of four months. Since that tragic incident, the couple has raised awareness of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), raised financial support for families who have lost an infant, and lobbied for increased governmental support and resources for bereaved parents.
From 2015 to 2018, the annual Quinn's Legacy Run was held on the third weekend of August to coincide with Quinn’s birthday, which falls on Aug. 18.
Cormier said even though the society has not held the run in the last two years, the support shown by Airdrie residents every August was humbling.
“The support we had from the community was so inspiring, and beyond measure, really,” she said.
Until Aug. 21, the Quinn's Legacy Run Facebook page is accepting donations as part of its 'Seven-for-Seven' fundraiser for the Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support Centre in Calgary. According to Cormier, financial donations in denominations or multiples of $7 are being accepted, as Aug. 18 this year marks Quinn's seventh birthday.
“It can be $7, $77, $21 – any denomination of seven,” she said.
Away from the annual run, one of the society’s main efforts has been the championing of Motion 110, with the help of Banff-Airdrie MP Blake Richards. The motion advocates for more financial help from the federal government for grieving families that have lost a child to SIDS, such as increased parental benefits and employment insurance.
While the motion received all-party support in 2018, Cormier said it’s currently in limbo, after being voted down in June 2019. With a federal election slated for Sept. 20, Cormier said she has mixed emotions, but added she is still hopeful Motion 110 can be resurrected under a new government – regardless of which party ends up leading the House of Commons.
“I think in everyone’s opinion, it’s a non-partisan issue. Loss and grief is something that affects everyone, and is not based on your political views,” she said.
She added trying to help push the legislation through the political system has been a “slog” over the last seven years, but that the efforts will be worth it in the end, if the motion eventually becomes a bill.
“Quinn’s legacy is just that – it’s the advocacy piece, saying her name and not letting all those other babies be forgotten,” she said.
Scott Strasser, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @scottstrasser19
