9 inspirational fundraising ideas

From bike rides to garage sales, here are nine fundraising ideas that will inspire you to start your own fundraiser in support of life-saving care at UHN.

After Adam Hoerdt’s wife Jackie suddenly passed away, his son Greg was diagnosed with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC), a genetically inherited heart condition that had caused Jackie’s devastating death. Despite receiving treatment for ARVC, Greg suffered cardiac arrest, leaving him in a vegetative state. 

To fight against the disease that devastated his family, Adam set out on a bike ride across Canada in a campaign to create awareness, connect with others dealing with ARVC, and meet their goal of raising $75,000 for life-saving research at UHN’s Peter Munk Cardiac Centre.

The Brownlee Invitational fundraiser is a game night organized by Tara Brownlee, her husband Chris, and their son Adrian. Tara has epilepsy but is now seizure free thanks to surgery at UHN.

Attendees make a donation at the door and play different board and card games, and there is a silent auction. The Brownlee family wanted to demonstrate their gratitude for changing Tara’s life and raise funds to support Epilepsy research and care at UHN’s Krembil Brain Institute. To date they have raised more than $30,000.

In January 2019, Alley Adams learned that she had kidney failure due to a complication from her diabetes. To survive, Alley needed a kidney and pancreas transplant. Two years later in May 2021, Alley was at the top of the transplant list. While Alley underwent surgery, her friend Craig Mode hosted the Donor Appreciation Ride, a virtual peloton bike ride that raised more than $26,000 for transplant research in honour of Alley’s organ donors.

Porridge for Parkinson’s began in Vancouver in 2001, by former CBC radio broadcaster Marg Miekle, after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at the age of 43. The event launched in Toronto in 2009, growing to be an annual brunch event. Porridge for Parkinson’s has raised more than $1 million for Parkinson’s research at UHN. The event is made possible by a committed group of volunteers, guests and donors.

Troy Wagner completed a 3.8 km swim, 180 km bike ride and 42.2 km run at Ironman Mont-Tremblant. He dedicated his race to his sister Lauren, and raised more than $11,000 for patient care at the Spinal/Neurosurgery unit within UHN’s Krembil Brain Institute.

Lauren required 60 hours of surgery to treat an extremely rare tumor called a Giant Cell Tumor, affecting only one in a million people. Thankfully, the team of specialized experts at UHN were able to remove her tumor and rebuild her spine, ultimately saving her life.

After losing her sight in 2014 due to severe cornea damage, Amber Needham had a stem cell transplant at UHN’s Donald K. Johnson Eye Institute and regained her vision. Inspired by the miraculous care she received, Amber and her friend rode a Tandem bike across Ontario to raise funds and awareness for cornea disease research. Amber raised more than $20,000 and will continue fundraising for UHN until she reaches her ultimate goal of $80,000.

After receiving an internal defibrillator and pacemaker to keep her heart beating, Annie Smith ended up UHN’s Peter Munk Cardiac Centre diagnosed with cardiac sarcoidosis – a rare and incurable inflammatory heart disease. Annie’s diagnosis never stopped her.

Despite not being able to do strenuous exercise, Annie walked 10km every day and quickly came up with the idea for an event to raise awareness for heart health and research. Annie’s Pace Global Adventure is an annual 4-day adventure challenge with many participants around the world exercising at the same time with the same goal in mind – heart health. Annie’s Pace has raised more than $23,000 in support of heart failure research at UHN.

Eight-year-old Summer Rosen raised funds by selling her homemade masks and mask chains during the COVID-19 pandemic. Inspired by the courage of health care workers who risked their safety to care for patients, Summer donated the proceeds of her sales to support UHN.

Corinne Roberts has been holding fundraising garage sales since 1990 in support of many charities and causes near and dear to her heart. Her father was an esophageal cancer survivor and received treatment at UHN. With a team of volunteers, community members and donors, more than $12,000 has been raised to support esophageal cancer research at UHN.

These fundraising stories are proof that anyone can make an impact in their community for a cause they care about. Whichever fundraising idea you choose, you can feel good knowing you’re helping reimagine health care for the future. For more information, along with tools and resources to start your own fundraiser, visit UHNfoundation.ca/fundraise.