Image Credit: Facebook / Bonnie Lepine Antoine

By Jill Sperling

Riel Strong

Fundraiser planned to help Kamloops parents of baby with brain cancer

Jan 24, 2020 | 4:05 PM

KAMLOOPS — The community is coming together to support a Kamloops family going through some incredibly difficult circumstances.

Frank Antoine and Bonnie Lepine Antoine’s baby Riel was only seven months old when doctors found a brain tumor.

Now 13 months old, Riel is recovering at BC Children’s Hospital from his second surgery to remove the mass in his brain.

Through surgeries and chemotherapy, his parents have been by his side, which has taken a financial toll.

Family friend Jodi Lavigne has decided to hold a fundraiser to help the family out.

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“Having a background in massage, I thought well, I could do seated chair massage,” she said. “Everyone likes massage, so I approached Adina and we started collaborating and more and more people started coming on board.”

Adina Markin is the owner of Ms. Whimsy’s Gift Emporium on First Ave in Kamloops. She was happy to offer up her space for the fundraiser, and businesses have been donating items for a silent auction.

“It’s a large city, but the community feel… people help each other out in this community and I think it’s a wonderful thing,” Markin said. “Even if I’m a part of it, just a teeny-tiny little bit, it makes my heart swell, it makes me feel good.”

Both Markin and Lavigne have been touched by Riel’s story and hope others will be encouraged to help the Antoine family.

“They have been at the Children’s Hospital since July, so both mom and dad have been off work and they just need our financial support right now,” Lavigne said. “They also have two other children, [a] son that’s in my daughter’s class and then another daughter in Kindergarten, so they’re being cared for here in Kamloops, trying to keep as much routine for them.”

The fundraiser will be held at Ms. Whimsy’s Gift Emporium this Saturday from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

“It’s going to be a fun event,” Markin said. “We’re going to have tarot card readings, we’re going to have lots of stuff for silent auction, Jodi’s going to be massaging people, there’s shopping in here, we’re going to have snacks, cookies, it’s going to be a good time.”