Jessie Hennessey is known by Elliot Lakers for her active community involvement with the organization the North Shore Cruisers and their Sick Kids Fund.
Jessie is also no stranger to volunteering.
In her interview with ElliotLakeToday, she reminisced about the events that her mother organized when she was growing up.
“We were 'volun-told',” Jessie said as she fondly talked about her mother Darla Hennessey. Darla is also a community icon and has been responsible for hosting several large, popular local events up until her recent retirement this year.
ElliotLakeToday asked Jessie about the role her mother Darla played in helping her become the woman she is today.
“She raised us to have compassion, understanding and a hard work ethic and she taught us to push past barriers in life.”
Jessie describes herself as lucky. “We hit the jackpot as far as mothers go.”
Jessie herself is now an inspiring mother of three, she always has had ties to the community but it wasn’t until her son Elijah was born that she made a personal connection with the North Shore Cruisers.
When Jessie was pregnant for Elijah in late 2017 she learned he was classified as 'incompatible with life' before he was born.
“I was always taught if you have something to give, give it,” Jessie said.
The first thing she asked the doctor when she heard the news was, “what about organ donation?” and her first instinct was that she would carry her baby to full term if we could donate his organs.
However, this past May 19 marked the one-year anniversary of Elijah's most recent open-heart surgery at the age of four.
When Jessie learned of Elijah's condition, Sick Kids told her there was only one surgery that would help him but it was considered palliative and Jessie wasn’t accepting that. She began to research alternative options and found the top doctor in the world.
This doctor was based in Boston, Massachusetts. Without consulting Elijah’s medical team, Jessie decided to email Dr. DeNido to ask for his opinion.
She wasn’t ready to take no for an answer.
To Jessie’s shock, Dr. DelNido consented to look over Elijah’s extensive medical records. He determined that Elijah was a candidate for a bi-vent repair of his malformed heart. Dr. DelNido collaborated with Sick Kids to perform the surgery.
“He (Elijah) got what was considered a full repair," she said. “We gave him a chance at a normal life."
You can read and follow Elijah’s story on Facebook.
She credits her Hennessey blood for her fighting spirit.
"I am so thankful I had the parents I did,” she said. "(They) raised us to fight for others, not just ourselves.”
Making good on a promise
In 2018, Jessie and her family were the recipients of a huge fundraiser organized by Sandy Finamore and her crew of dedicated volunteers.
“The community came together to raise funds for me,” Jessie said.
They were able to raise roughly $32,000 and The North Shore Cruisers Sick Kids Fund also provided financial support for medical-related expenses.
Jessie and her family were overwhelmed by the generosity of the community, she said.
“(I decided that) when I could, I would give back to families going through the same thing,”
Pitching the Catch the Ace Fundraiser
Jessie had noticed that this popular fundraising idea was successful in many communities and brought the concept to the North Shore Cruisers. They were supportive from the get-go but asked Jessie for help to get the fundraiser off the ground.
This was the beginning of Jessie’s volunteer experience with the Cruisers. When they asked her to come on board as a partner her first reaction was, “how do I say no, cause I’m going to be helping families in the same situation as me.”
It wasn’t long after that, that the organization had elections and officially elected her into the position of Fundraising Coordinator and also Public Relations.
Jessie is currently a proud member of the North Shore Cruisers executive team. A team of “great, stellar people,” as she describes them. Jessie says they are committed to raising funds for kids and families in the community who need financial support for travel and also for medical devices and equipment.
Jessie reflected on how much the Sick Kids Fund has been able to help others.
“COVID was really hard for us,” she said. She hopes the community knows just how much it did to keep things going.
“Catch the Ace was our saving grace,” she said. "We had less money coming in but yet we were seeing an increase in demand for financial requests from the fund."
Jessie told ElliotLakeToday that it was scary for a while there.
Our organization was not able to do any of our big fundraisers such as the North Shore Drag Races or any other Car Shows. The COVID restrictions that were put in place by the government made it impossible for people to gather. The inability to properly fundraise started to drastically deplete the Sick Kids Fund.
It’s not always about money.
Jessie also provides emotional support to those who need a friend and she shares stories and medical experiences with others. She told ElliotLakeToday that she sends support in the form of messages to those going through some stressful situations.
She knows what these families are going through and wants to make their journey a little easier to cope with.
She remembers the struggle and constant internal battle of balancing paying bills or supporting a child born with lots of health complications.
“That’s why the charity means so much to me and I want to make sure that funds are available,” says Jessie.
She adds that childhood illness and accidents are not going to go away.
Her ultimate goal is to be able to provide whatever financial assistance is necessary to help families along the North Shore cope with the extra stress and burden of medical costs.
The current geographical catchment area for the charity spans from Espanola to Iron Bridge and everywhere in between. Jessie would like to be able to expand the boundary lines further and hopes that one day there will be enough money in the Sick Kids Fund to do that.
On a quest to make kids more comfortable in hospital
Jessie also told ElliotLakeToday about another project she is ready to spearhead but it was delayed due to COVID.
The idea came to her in 2019 when she participated in the 100 Elliot Lakers who Care program initiated by the Rotary Club. It was her submission to this program that prompted an invite to the Patient Family Advisory Committee at St. Joseph's General Hospital Elliot Lake.
Her pitch in the community contest was to make our hospital more childhood friendly. The idea came to her after trying to understand why Elijah was struggling with routine visits with his local doctor and also at the Elliot Lake hospital.
“Good memories don’t trump trauma," she said. "But they do help our brains when we look back on stuff.”
“It didn’t make sense to me,” Jessie said, “so I had to break down what’s causing this and realized that it’s all the stuff lacking at our hospital.”
Jessie is excited to be able to launch this idea. It’s a huge plan with a bunch of ideas from Sick Kids like a care package-actually called a comfort kit, she said.
She put together a budget and plan and proposed her idea to a very receptive group at the hospital. They were instantly on board and thrilled, she said. Comfort kits are primarily used as a distraction tool for children receiving medical treatment.
The original plan was that the childcare specialists from Sick Kids were going to be training our hospital, said Jessie.
"By making things kid-friendly, it’s not going to take away the care that the adult gets but it’s going to enhance the care the child gets,” she said. "The techniques seen at Sick Kids seem simple but it’s all about timing and knowing when to use them.”
Plans for our hospital emergency waiting room include touch screen gaming systems and will also include sensory carts which are great for babies, people with autism and seniors with dementia.
Jessie says the hospital has been more than willing, welcoming and embracing to progressively move forward with this initiative. She understands that certain things will have to be put on the back burner due to COVID restrictions but will focus on the things that can move forward. However, they will adapt the plan to public health precautions to prevent the spread of COVID by sharing equipment.
Other future goals for St. Joseph's hospital include child-friendly imagery and possibly renovating one of the emergency treatment rooms to make it kid-friendly and whenever possible prioritize that room for a child. Funding for these projects will come from some private donors already committed and of course, the North Shore Cruisers will also be donating.
“It’s the simple things,” says Jessie, “it shows the kids they are valued here.”
"Currently, when children visit our hospital what says 'we thought of you, we value you, we want to include you and you are important?' There is nothing.” She said.
She hopes her collaboration with the patient family advisory committee will change the way children are addressed when visiting these facilities.
Questions should have been asked
Recently Jessie was a major voice against the city of Elliot Lake when council decided to relocate the auditory component of a proposed full circuit sensory playground at Westview Park.
Her online petition garnered more than 400 signatures in an attempt to get the city to reassess the move of the chime component to the fire tower. There is also a paper copy of the petition that can still be signed at North Shore Advertising.
Jessie was recently informed that the online signatures don’t count because it doesn’t follow the city policy.
That didn't help alleviate her frustration with the City of Elliot Lake.
"They just don’t understand that it’s for a specific group of neurodivergent children,” she said.
Jessie took it upon herself to contact the manufacturer of the playground equipment to investigate the issue from the source. All her research led her to the conclusion that the equipment is some of the most popular auditory equipment at sites all across North America.
"It's installed in residential communities all the time," she said.
Jessie is disappointed that the city didn't take time to reach out to the North Shore Cruisers before announcing the removal of the chime equipment.
“They didn’t even reach out to our club and we fundraised for a huge chunk of that park,” she said.
She also feels that the city should have investigated properly before deciding to remove the equipment because its decision makes it look like the city is just punishing a bunch of innocent kids.
In Jessie's informed opinion, it's an unsuitable solution to move the auditory equipment to the fire tower. She hopes that city council will see the number of people opposed to the plan and reconsider, believing there was likely just one person complaining numerous times.
“There were compromises out there,” she said.
Jessie wonders if the city took the time to investigate accurately. She can’t see the decision as anything but discrimination.
Future of North Shore Cruisers
The Cruisers right now are actively trying to raise funds and expand the charity, says Jessie.
When asked what her goals are for the future Jessie envisions “a community where everyone regardless of race, gender or any physical minority feels safe and accepted.”
Some future plans of the Cruisers are to install rubberized mats (instead of sand) at Westview Park as it will help increase accessibility for many citizens. They have also committed to buying a water wheelchair for the community to use at the Kiwanis Park splash pad.
Jessie worries that all of the newer projects and equipment around town are because of community-driven initiatives and feels that the city is still focused on Elliot Lake being just a “retirement community”. She says not enough is being done to attract young people to the North.
Ways to support the charity
The North Shore Cruisers are going to be making a call-out to the public in the near future for anyone interested in becoming a monthly donor to their charity and they will be able to provide official tax receipts shortly.
The hope is that this will help create a steady flow of income for the Sick Kids Fund so they can increase the travel cheques to cover the costs of inflation and fund more community projects.
The current fundraising campaign is the Ultimate Camping Raffle. The draw date is June 2, 2022. This week they will have volunteers selling tickets at Elliot Lake Foodland. They will be there this Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Jessie asks the community to watch the North Shore Cruisers Facebook page for other upcoming fundraisers. You can find the page here.
Upcoming fundraisers will include a BBQ raffle, 50/50 at the drag races, a fall food and fuel raffle and of course the popular, Catch the Ace!
“Elliot Lake has always been behind us, always backs us and it’s what keeps us going," she said. "It’s what saved us during COVID times.”
Details on the next catch the ace fundraiser will be released shortly via social media. The charity is excited to announce that tickets will be able to be bought online and also in stores using an approved Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) handheld device.
For any information on becoming a volunteer, donating or buying tickets to support the North Shore Cruisers you can contact Jessie Hennessey directly at (705) 849-6848 or by email at [email protected].
Possible run for council?
After hearing about her ideas and her concerns, ElliotLakeToday took the opportunity to ask Jessie if she would consider running for city council in the upcoming municipal election.
We learned that some have encouraged her to run and her response might be hopeful to them.
“Down the road, if I have time, I would, if it gives me a platform to give a voice to those who don’t,” she said.