The Peterborough Butterfly Run is taking flight once again this spring to support families and individuals who have experienced a loss during pregnancy, the loss of an infant, or who are unable to conceive.

Registration is now open for the annual event, which takes place on Sunday, April 27 at Peterborough’s Millennium Park in downtown Peterborough and features a five-kilometre run or walk.

Presented by GPHSF Your Family Health Team Foundation, in partnership with Partners in Pregnancy Clinic along with the Peterborough Butterfly Run Executive Committee, there’s also a one-kilometre “memorial walk” and a one-kilometre fun run for kids, in addition to the traditional five-kilometre trek from downtown Peterborough into East City.

“Since 2022, GPHSF has taken the lead role in organizing the Peterborough Butterfly Run, which has been a great privilege,” said GPHSF executive director Vince Bierworth in a media release. “It is both humbling and gratifying to see the impact that it has made.”

Bierworth told kawarthaNOW it’s an important event for GPHSF.

“Part of the mission of this event, when it was first started in 2017, was to create a space for people who were grieving to come together and feel supported,” Bierworth said.

“As a founding partner of the run, along with the Peterborough Butterfly Run Executive Committee and Partners in Pregnancy Clinic, we’ve seen over the years how this event continues to be a place that family, friends, neighbours, co-workers, and many more come together to rally around people close to them that have experienced loss. This event is very community-driven, which, in a big way, is why its importance grows each year.”

Ashley Hickson and Kori Zwarych are the new co-chairs of the Peterborough Butterfly Run Executive Committee. Both Hickson and Zwarych have been involved in the event for a number of years, including in the capacity of cheering on the runners during the race.

“After years of involvement on the backend of things, curating and distributing bereavement kits in the community, we are excited to have a more prominent role on the executive committee for the run itself this year,” Hickson and Zwarych said in a statement.

“We are working on furthering initiatives with the money raised to help support families with their grief. We are looking forward to another successful event.”

The run route will remain the same as in previous years, with registration opening at 9 a.m. The one-kilometre kids’ fun run starts at 10 a.m., the one-kilometre memorial walk starts at 10:20 a.m., and the opening ceremonies kick off at 10:45 a.m. The five-kilometre chip timed run/walk will start by 11 a.m.

The memorial walk will remain free as in previous years. Registration for the kids’ run is $5 and the five-kilometre run/walk registration fee is $45 plus applicable fees. Registration includes a medal and customizable race bib. Five-kilometre run/walk participants who register before April 4 will also receive a race shirt and various other items in their race kits.

Dave Dame from Runner’s Life will be the race director for this year, using “his years of experience to make sure the event day runs as smoothly and seamlessly as possible,” the release noted.

Money raised through the Peterborough Butterfly Run has been used to provide ongoing specialized education in perinatal bereavement care to healthcare providers across Peterborough city and county, to establish more than 10 lending libraries for individuals and their families located across Peterborough city and county, and to develop bereavement kits for families and individuals who experience early and later pregnancy loss and infant loss.

Since 2018, 800 bereavement kits have been created for families and individuals to be distributed by health-care providers. Money raised through the Butterfly Run is also invested back into race day.

“Our hope this year, as every year, is to bring as many people together as we can in Millennium Park on April 27th to show their support for each other,” Bierworth said.

Those who are unable to attend the in-person event but would still like to support the Peterborough Butterfly Run can take part in a virtual run and receive a race shirt, medal, and race kit. Sponsorship opportunities are also available.

For more information about the Peterborough Butterfly Run, including how to register, donate, or sponsor the run, visit www.ptbobutterflyrun.ca. You can also register in person at Runner’s Life at 174 Charlotte Street in downtown Peterborough.

At 66 years old, Peggy Shaughnessy is well aware she should be spending her weekends at the cottage knitting or doing pottery, but she just can’t seem to stop doing the lifesaving work she does through her Peterborough-based organization Right to Heal.

“I’m not ready to let it go yet,” she says. “My job isn’t finished yet, and I don’t know if it ever will be.”

That’s because with a resume that includes being a nurse in Peterborough, working with Indigenous men coming out of incarceration, founding WhitePath Consulting, operating the Whistle Stop Café — a place she says was “a hub for people of all walks of life” — and developing the RedPath approach, she has dedicated her life to proving people have the right to heal in whatever capacity they need.

But when the time comes for her to take a much-deserved retirement, she can be assured she will have set the foundation for others to follow closely behind her, beginning with her daughter Liz Shaughnessy-Rowe.

“My mom’s gift is creating the RedPath program and helping see what’s within you and getting to the root of what you do, which I can also facilitate because I watched her create it,” says Liz. “But one of my gifts is creating community, and so when we came into this building (the former St. Andrew’s United Church), I was the one who ran the basement in the beginning.”

That community she is referring to is one dedicated to helping people find their path to wellness. With Peggy’s research-based RedPath approach, which has seen more than 20 years of success, the hub offers free outpatient addictions services, nourishing meals, and community events like moon circles.

VIDEO: Liz talks to Daisy at Right to Heal

“We got the money for addictions treatment, but we realized that wasn’t good enough,” Peggy says, referring to essential mental health and addictions funding from the Government of Ontario. “If we ran programs and sent Joe back out onto the street, Joe is just going to get some fentanyl or something. So we created the hub downstairs so people could come and build community.”

“People who come to Right to Heal want to change their life, and that isn’t just ‘We’re going to do this work and we’re going to be better’,” adds Liz. “We have to think about the mind, the body, and the spirit to heal all aspects of the person. I believe that what we do here is we build community and connection, and through that connection they find the different healing modalities or the different tools that help them. Each of us needs different things.”

Peggy is proud to say that in two years, Right to Heal hasn’t had a single overdose or a needle on-site and hasn’t been visited by the police, “other than for coffee.” And yet, she says, “the mayor (Jeff Leal) has never reached out and said, ‘How can we duplicate this across the city?'”

“In response to the local opioid crisis, Right to Heal was created to bring the RedPath Program to Peterborough,” Liz adds. “A program that was developed right here in her hometown wasn’t even being able to be used in her hometown. She’s recognized across the country and for some reason our city won’t look at her for the expert she is.”

Liz believes being seen as an expert is one reason her mother is pursuing the PhD she will soon be defending, something Peggy agrees was initially a motivation.

“At first it was just to say, ‘Well, if they call me Dr. Shaughnessy, maybe people will look at me a bit more seriously’,” says Peggy. “But I think for my own journey I needed to do it as well. I think you can learn an awful lot of your own self during that process, and it’s very humbling.”

As for other approaches to helping people with addictions, Peggy singles out harm reduction for criticism — not because of the original concept, but because of what it has become.

“It wasn’t brought forward originally (as) a solution — it was to get you to a place where you could then go to treatment,” Peggy explains. “As soon as harm reduction became the solution, then we’re telling addicts it’s okay to be an addict, and that isn’t a very good thing to be telling a high school student coming out of a pandemic that isn’t functioning. So now we’ve created this mess and we’ve lost control of our cities.”

“We have the solution to get back on our feet,” she says, referring to Right to Heal. “And so that is my fight.”

“The system isn’t set up for you to move out of it, and it creates a dependency,” adds Liz. “I think that’s the most frustrating thing that we face all the time: not being looked at, not being asked to help when we’re willing to.”

While it might be tempting to call Peggy and Liz “passionate” about their cause, that’s a word they are tired of hearing. Liz points out that’s usually how the letters they receive from the government begin.

“It’s always ‘Thank you for your passion’,” she says. “We look at passion almost as an insult. It is my passion, but as women our passion is our strength and we’re supposed to listen to it, but the way that we get treated in this patriarchal society is ‘Thank you for your passion. Now sit down. You’re showing your emotion’.”

As a Christmas gift from Liz to her mother, the women have begun a project of creating a documentary film that will share Peggy’s truth. It will include interviews with Peggy, Liz, and other community members who have found healing through Right to Heal.

“I want my (descendants) to hear her voice and know why she did what she did,” says Liz. “The documentary is finally the space for her to speak her truth — and maybe someone will listen to it.”

Whether or not a lot of people watch the documentary when it is completed, Liz is certain her mother has created a legacy that’s built to last.

“She has the seed and she’s the only one who can plant it. And in order for it to grow, it’s our jobs as the people who walk beside her and as the clients who are being put on our path right now — it’s our job to care for and nourish the seed. Even when she’s not here, it will continue.”

As for Peggy, she’s not sure she will ever be finished her work, because there will always be more people in need of healing.

“It’s about getting people to a space where they live to the fullest,” she says. “That’s what everybody should have the right to do, and one of the reasons everyone has the right to heal.”

Kawartha Youth Orchestra is one of 25 community organizations across Canada that are receiving a collective $400,000 worth of musical instruments, equipment, and resources through the SiriusXM Soundwaves MusiCounts Community Fund.

MusiCounts is Canada’s music education charity associated with the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) and the Juno Awards. The SiriusXM Soundwaves MusiCounts Community Fund is a new partnership between MusiCounts and audio entertainment company SiriusXM Canada.

The fund awards grants up to $20,000 for musical instruments, equipment, and resources to community groups or not-for-profit organizations that deliver music programs to youth up to the age of 25.

“For young people, making music with peers in their communities is a powerful force for building a sense of belonging,” says MusiCounts president Kristy Fletcher in a media release. “Kids are facing unprecedented mental health challenges and connecting with each other through music can be a critical support. MusiCounts is so grateful to partner with SiriusXM Canada on this program to deliver the much-needed funds to organizations doing incredible work with music.”

Based in Peterborough, Kawartha Youth Orchestra is a community organization offering music and orchestra training to children and youth from elementary to post-secondary levels, including the Upbeat! Downtown after-school music program for children living in Peterborough who are interested in music and face barriers accessing music education.

Since 1997, MusiCounts has awarded over $18 million in support of music education in Canada supporting over 1,500 schools and communities as well as more than 290 post-secondary music program graduates, 18 music teachers, and seven philanthropists.

While watching the home team overcome a deficit and clinch a win was an exciting experience, seeing kids’ reactions to being included in the recent fundraising event for Five Counties Children’s Centre hosted by the Peterborough Petes made an even bigger impression on Bill Eekhof.

The Five Counties spokesperson joined young clients, families, and staff of the regional children’s treatment centre on Family Day (February 17) for the “Next Gen Game” with the Petes at the Peterborough Memorial Centre.

The highly anticipated annual event held in partnership with the Petes offered Five Counties’ kids and families the opportunity to enjoy and take part in different aspects of the Ontario Hockey League game experience.

The event was really a hat trick considering the fun had by attendees, the Petes’ 5-3 victory over the visiting Kitchener Rangers, and the $17,056 raised for Five Counties, which helps kids in the Kawarthas region who have physical, communication, and developmental needs.

“It was an electric game, and not just because of the Petes’ comeback win,” Eekhof told kawarthaNOW. “Seeing the smiles on kids’ faces was really something … whether those getting their faces painted, those building towers out of giant LEGO, those getting a high-five from the Petes’ mascot, Roger, or the centre’s clients who took on a role for the game.”

“For instance, Kelton — one of our Five Counties’ clients — was thrilled to see his design on hundreds of mini-sticks produced for the game. There was Bryor, one of our clients selected to be one of the Next Gen kids for the game. His grin was wider than the Peterborough Memorial Centre ice rink as he stood at the bench for the Petes’ pre-game warm-up.”

This year’s game, which was another sellout, saw funds raised through donations, sales, a raffle draw, and corporate sponsorships led by Waste Connections of Canada.

Scott Pepin, CEO of Five Counties, said it was “a total team effort” that will help reduce wait times for high-demand services like speech therapy and occupational therapy at the Peterborough-based children’s treatment centre.

“The Peterborough Petes are tremendous hosts and, once again, the team, their fans and our Five Counties supporters all provided a huge assist to ensure more children and families in our community get access to the care they need when they need it,” Pepin said in a media release.

“The Next Gen Game puts fun into fundraising, by creating a family-friendly event that not only raises money but also the spirits of attendees.”

And Pepin and Eekhof said that’s especially true for the Five Counties clients who got to enjoy a behind-the-scenes experience with the Petes. Each kid played a role as scout, coach, general manager, or play-by-play announcer and also signed a one-day contract with the Petes.

Nova, a client of Five Counties, and her family members took part in the ceremonial pre-game puck drop.

“The Petes are first-rate hosts in creating the Next Gen opportunity, and we heard many good comments and compliments from the kids and their families about their experiences behind the scenes,” Pepin said.

Even before the game, when the Petes held a news conference to officially introduce the Next Gen Game participants and have them sign one-day contracts with the team, clients were all there smiling and looking forward to the experience, Eekhof added.

“It’s a really big deal for the kids because the Petes make it a big deal, and as Pepin notes, this game is one of the highlights for us every year on the centre’s calendar. It certainly delivered that again this year — and we’re most grateful for the community support and to the Peterborough Petes for being such great hosts,” Eekhof added.

Five Counties provides speech, physio, and occupational therapies, as well as other treatment services for kids and youth in the counties of Haliburton, Northumberland, Peterborough, and the City of Kawartha Lakes. The centre is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, having first opened its doors in Peterborough in 1975.