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After 10 months of planning Quinn's Journey, the big day arrived and it was a spectacular day!  The weather was gorgeous and we had over 100 people show up for the walk, silent auction and BBQ.  Every item we had donated for the auction was sold.  There was a DJ who played great music, that was generously donated by Dynamic Music Solutions.

We are proud to say we raised $10,449.82 for SB&H.

We would like to say a special thank you to the Mabee family and Investors Group, M&M's, Food Basics, Sanderson Travel Insurance, Wards Lawyers and Tracy Hennekam for their generous donations.

The Fraser Family.

Readers asked to help out with Quinn's Journey (from myKawartha.com)

By Barbara-Ann MacEachern

(LINDSAY) Quinn Fraser is four-years-old and has hydrocephalus and his family and friends are getting together June 16 for a walk to benefit the Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Association of Ontario

Readers asked to help out with Quinn's Journey. Quinn Fraser, pictured with his mom Jennifer, was diagnosed with Hydrocephalus, or water on the brain, when he was just four months old. Behind the pair in the picture, Quinn has displayed his "Bravery Beads" with each bead on the strong representing a medical procedure.Now four, Quinn has had right surgeries for his condition. His family is hosting the second annual Spirit Wheel, Walk, Run event to raise money and awareness for the Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Association of Ontario on Saturday, June 16, beginning and ending at the Boys and Girls Club of Kawartha Lakes.  On the surface, four-year-old Quinn Fraser seems like any other little boy.

Dressed in a hoodie with yellow race cars and sporting, black, thick-rimmed square glasses, he scurries across the floor on his hands and knees and jumps on mom Jenn's lap, burying his face in her chest and whispering in her ear rather than speaking aloud.

Quinn is four-and-a-half years old, and except for a few scars that show through his close-trimmed blond hair, you would never know that he has been battling for his health for most of his young life.
His mom remembers when she and her husband Bill received the diagnosis that their baby had hydrocephalus, or a build up of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain, when he was just four months old.
"It was very scary," Mrs Fraser said, adding that she had never heard of the condition before and, even with two older children - Andrew, 10 and Connor, 6- she, had no previous experience to prepare her for such news.

"It's your baby, you expect your kids to be completely healthy."
The cause of the condition, which developed after birth, was a cyst at the base of Quinn's skull, his mom said.

Symptoms include headaches, fatigue, nausea and vomiting.
"Sadly, he is just so used to it, it is normal for him ad at this point if he has a headache, he can tell you if it's a 'hospital headache' or a home headache'" his mom said.

"That's what amazes me the most is every thing he's been through; he's just resiliant and is happy and he just bounces back so well - he's the strongest kid I've ever met."

Quinn has endured eight surgeries, including four in the six-month period between March and September of last year. In the family's living room, there are three framed pictures of the little guy at Sick Kids' Hospital, proudly adorned with three beaded necklaces. Mrs. Fraser explains that they are Bravery Beads, with each individual bead representing a procedure that Quinn has gone through. The constant back and forth to the hospital is financially straining, but also difficult for the rest of the family, with Mrs. Fraser having to break the news to the families she helps through her at-home day care and Mr. Fraser having to take time off work as a high school teacher in Brock, not to mention uprooting their other two children to stay with their grandparents in Toronto.

"We do what we have to so there is always someone with him," Mrs. Fraser explained.

"We're lucky to have a very good support system," she said of the family, friends, hospital staff, neighbours and co-workers who have helped the family through.

Andrew and Connor have also grown to understand more what their brother is going through and are very concerned for him, Mrs. Fraser said, adding they draw him pictures when he is in the hospital and give him space when he needs it.

Quinn has now been surgery-free for six months, but when it comes to the long-term, the family has absolutely no idea what to expect.
"Because of his history, we always know in the back of our minds that it could be tomorrow when he starts to have symptoms again," Mrs Fraser said.

"You just go on every day and take it one day at a time and are grateful for every day that he has that is pain free."

Last year, the family, along with some friends, held their first Spirit Wheel Walk Run Event to benefit the Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Association of Ontario, calling it Quinn's Journey. This year, they are looking to expand on the event.

"It would be great to have 100 people or more," she said.
This year, the June 16 walk will begin and end at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Kawartha Lakes and will also include a silent auction and a charity barbecue.

Any businesses or individuals who are interested in taking part can email Mrs. Fraser at quinnsjourney@gmail.com.

The family will also host a Celebrity Server Night at Boston Pizza on Tuesday, May 1 from 6 until 8 p.m.

"It's just a condition that doesn't get enough awareness. It's my way of returning the favour and saying, 'thank you,'" Mrs Fraser said of why she wanted to organize a fundraiser and awareness day.

She added that she hopes other families going through the same struggle will come out and join the fun and hopefully make lasting connections.

"It's nice to have somewhere to go to vent and talk about it with someone who responds and knows what you are going through."
For more information, visit www.wix.com/quinnsjourney/quinnsjourney#!.