Setting The Tone For Youth Inclusion

Today on Bring Back The Porch, Brian learns how the Christian Doll Foundation supports children in need, honouring the legacy of Christian Doll through community events and financial assistance for activities.
This heartfelt interview with Josie Doll explores the life and legacy of Christian Doll, a young hockey enthusiast whose tragic passing inspired the creation of the Christian Doll Foundation. Discover how the foundation aims to support children in participating in activities they love, honouring Christian’s spirit of kindness and community.

Chapters

00:00 Honouring Christian's Legacy
03:00 The Birth of the Christian Doll Foundation
06:01 Community Support and Fundraising Events
09:13 Making Room for Every Child
12:02 The Impact of Courage in the Corners

When tragedy strikes, the impact ripples through families and communities. The story of Christian Doll, a bright 15-year-old who tragically lost his life, is a poignant reminder of the importance of community support and the legacy we leave behind. Join us, as we explore the mission of the Christian Doll Foundation, how it came to be, and how it aims to make a difference in the lives of children.

About the Christian Doll Foundation
The Christian Doll Foundation was established to honour the memory of Christian Doll, who loved hockey and the camaraderie that came with it. Following his untimely passing in July 2024, his family and friends rallied together to create a foundation that would ensure that every child has the opportunity to participate in sports and other activities, regardless of financial barriers.

Christian's mother, Josie Doll, has shared her story of loss and the healing journey that led to the foundation's creation. Writing a book titled "Courage in the Corners" helped her process her grief and has provided solace to other parents facing similar situations. The foundation's inception is a reflection of Christian’s spirit, aiming to "set the tone" for future generations of children.

Community Involvement and Events
The community's response to Christian's passing has been overwhelming. Various fundraising events have taken place, including memorial hockey tournaments and an upcoming golf tournament. These events not only raise funds for the foundation but also bring people together to celebrate Christian's life and the values he embodied.

Memorial Hockey Tournament
The second annual Christian Doll Memorial Hockey Tournament saw a significant turnout, highlighting how sports can unite a community. Local hockey moms organized the tournament, and participants wore jerseys with Christian's sayings, creating a heartfelt atmosphere of remembrance. Families gathered to enjoy the game, share stories, and keep Christian's spirit alive.

Upcoming Golf Tournament
The foundation is gearing up for its first official fundraising event, a golf tournament scheduled for June 18. The event has already sold out, showcasing the community's dedication to supporting Christian's legacy. The funds raised will be used to help children participate in various activities, ensuring that finances do not become a barrier to their enjoyment and growth.

Supporting Children Through the Foundation
The Christian Doll Foundation is committed to creating opportunities for children by providing financial assistance for sports registration, equipment, and other community activities. Applications for support will be available for families in need, making it easier for children to engage in their passions without the constraints of financial burden.

The Christian Doll Foundation stands as a beacon of hope for families navigating the challenges of financial constraints in children's activities. By

Hey we need your support. Like and subscribe to Bring Back The Porch Podcast

Transcript

0:00

Hey, this is Brian again. And I'd like to ask you to do a favour. We can't do this work without people like you. So if you can, please, like, share, subscribe. Tell your friends about bring back the porch. Our community has been so wonderful, which I know, you know, and rallying behind us. So we've had a number of fundraisers happen in his honour and in his memory. And we thought, okay, we've, we had fully funded a, a scholarship that goes to Notre Dame Academy every year or so. We we wanted to do something that could keep this going for a long time. And that's where the idea of the Christian Dahl Foundation came from. This episode of Bring Back the Porch, brought to you by Bernie Leahy, River Street Realty. Let's get you home. In July of 2024, there was a tragedy. 15 year old Christian Doll involved in a fatal motor accident shocked everybody in our community. But friends and family have rallied together, and they are keeping his legacy alive. And Josie Doll, the mother of Christian, is with us now to update us on what's going on. And you have had a lot in the last two years. We have we have had a lot from the loss of Christian to the court cases and, sort of everything in between. It's been it has been difficult. But we want Christians light to live on. So it's been very important as well. And everything that we've done. So, I've had the privilege of writing a book, that tells a bit about my story as the mother losing her child. So. And that was fairly cathartic for me. It's been it from what I've heard. It's been useful for other parents as well, so I'm grateful that I had that opportunity. But as a as a family unit and as a group of friends and family, we've we've come together to create the Christian Dahl Foundation, which is sort of the culmination of a lot of things that had been happening. Our community has been so wonderful, which I know, you know, and rallying behind us. So we've had a number of fundraisers happen in his honour and in his memory. And we thought, okay, we've, we had fully funded a, a scholarship that goes to Notre Dame Academy every year or so. We we wanted to do something that could keep this going for a long time. And that's where the idea of the Christian Dahl Foundation came from. Now, you just recently had a hockey game. We did where a bunch of, I guess, players that knew Christian got together and, people came out and, it was a success. It was it was, it was difficult for me actually to to say the second annual. It's it's weird how time goes amazingly fast and amazingly slow at the same time. But it was it was the second annual Christian Dahl Memorial Hockey Tournament, that's coordinated by a wonderful and amazing group of local hockey moms who who their boys had played. Some of their boys had played with Christian, some hadn't, but just really wanted to come together to honour him. And and I think ultimately it was Mike and I were also a thought in that in a way to, to, to bring people together. And that's what I really saw this year at the tournament was just a community of people who came together. Mike's brother Dennis, last year and this year as well, provided food for everyone. And just to see everyone staying around for hours talking and eating and enjoying and yeah, watching some really great hockey. So even boys that didn't play this last year came out and played and it was it was a really heartwarming sense of community that you don't often get to see anymore. And it's nice because you said it keeps Christian's light burning. Absolutely. He he loved hockey. I know he loved that dressing room. He loved the teamwork. He loved everything about it. So, watching the boys with the CD's on their helmets and their, their jerseys and swag, I'm wearing some of it, but with Christian sayings on the back. Well, it really warms my mom's heart. I know it warms a dad's heart too, so we're very, very grateful for for those types of events. I remember Christian when we used to have our fantasy hockey draft at your house in the garage, right? And Christian would be so excited because the guys were coming over 5 or 6 years old. But he was right in there helping Mike do whatever. And yeah, yeah, he he look forward to the draft as much as we did. And I always every time I think of our fantasy hockey draft, I have the memory of Christian doing that and such joy that he had in his life. And hockey was a big part of that. It was. And and spending time with his dad and the boys, because he so often had to spend time with me and Micah and he stuck with the girls. So yeah, the potty league, the potty league will forever be remembered. Yeah, he loved that. Yeah. Now something else that is coming up too is a golf tournament. Yes. Actually, this is the first official event of the Christian Dahl Foundation. Now, as I said, there had been some third party events that had happened that, hockey tournament there was the oil Men's bonspiel, gave the proceeds to the Christian Dahl Foundation. We had a gentleman named Jerry do a fundraiser at the end of last year. So all of the funds that have been raised are rolling in to the Christian Dahl Foundation. So the plan is for the foundation to run one singular fundraising event per year. And that is, the golf tournament. Now is already sold out. It is. Yeah. Amazing. And hasn't it since June we're almost. Yeah. Weeks ahead. It is. It's June 18th and, we didn't even open registration like, there's I don't know, there just really isn't. Words to describe how that feels. I've run many golf tournaments throughout my professional career and I've never come upon that. So, it's just it's a testament to the people here and the people who want to make a difference, and the people who knew Christian or knew, of what we're trying to do with this foundation. So I am beyond grateful. Tell me a little about the idea, where it came from to have the Christian Dahl Foundation. Well, Christian had a number of sayings that he said all the time, but one of them was, set the tone him and Mike on their drives to hockey would say, okay, we're going to set the tone this game. We're going to set the tone this game. So that's where it came from. We wanted Christian's memory and light to be of setting the tone so that kids could play on. He loved I've said it before, he loved being in the rink, but he was also the kind of player and person that every, every team needed. And I say that as a mom. But I also say that looking in because he was dedicated and he was first to the rink and he was last out and he was always willing to help somebody. We shortly after he had passed, actually, we received an email from a mom who had told us a story about Christian that we didn't know. That has stuck with us forever because it's amazing when you hear from someone else that your child really is who you thought they were. When no one is watching. So she said, one day in the locker room, there was a moment when this player came in and there was nowhere for them to sit, and they looked around and no one was moving. And she said, and Christian slid down and made a place, and without hesitation he did that. And it changed the way that player played hockey. It changed how they viewed the game. And it warms my heart to know that he really was who I thought he was, even when no one was looking. So we wanted to make an organization so that every child knows that they can belong somewhere in whatever they want to do. It doesn't have to be a sport, it can be an activity. So, that's who Christian was. And that's why this foundation exists. Because we think that every child deserves a chance to play. So we as a as a foundation, as an executive group on this foundation, we ask ourselves the question, it's always going to be, does this help a get a child a chance to play? Yeah. How is that mechanism going to work now? You're raising money to the golf tournament. Yes. And then you have a board that sort of looks at, how we can help or good people apply to the fund. Yeah, people will apply to the fund. So, cra makes things a little tricky. So we have to we have to get the funds in place before we can submit our application. But we do have things sort of laid out, that we would fund registration, equipment, tournaments, emergency needs, team support, community events. It's fairly broad. It has an impact on anyone. There's no there's no barrier to application. So a lot of times things are income tested. And unfortunately we all know this. You know, as parents we can make a reasonable amount of money, but it's still a very expensive day and age to live in. So even if you're making a large amount, your expenses may also be large. And if you if you if finances are a barrier, you can still come to this foundation to apply. Because we don't want your child not to play because of a financial barrier. So like Christian made room in the dressing room for that other child. This is what you're going to do with the foundation? That's right. We're going to make room and make sure everybody gets to play. And it's not just for hockey. Not just for hockey. It's in fact not even just for sport. It could be, dance, it could be theater, it could be, judo. It could be anything that, is of interest to a child. We we as a family know the the benefit of activity and the benefit of group activities on the development of our children and how important it is to be able to learn to play as a team or to participate alone. So, that's we just want to make that available. And we want to do that in Christian's honour because that's what he would have wanted to do. When will you start disbursing funds? This year. So the tournament is, June 18th at Madison at Golf and Country Club. And we will start disbursing in the fall. So the timing runs pretty good with when registrations will open for the fall season. For people. So, yeah, we're excited. We're excited to help as, as many families and as many kids as we can. We won't be doing a ton of fundraisers. So this is our, our our major fundraiser throughout the year. And we've been blessed to be able to sell out our sponsorships. We have we have a few whole sponsorships left, a couple of small things, but the way that people have stepped up is, is amazing. And we're going to do some really great things with that. And if someone is watching or listening and thinks, I would like to donate to this. Yeah, maybe not necessarily for the golf tournament, but just to help preserve Christian's memory and to make others have the experiences that he had. How do they do it? It's well, the Christian Dollar Foundation is on Facebook as a group there, but there's also an email called Christian Dahl Foundation at gmail.com. Those are the best ways to get Ahold of us. All of the the committee has access to that. So we'll be able to get back to you so that we would love to see as many people involved as possible, in the golf tournament, it'll be a great day. But in the foundation in general, so that our community can really see the impact here and we can talk about Christian for years and years and years to. Come, and people down the road will go. Who is Christian Dahl? That's right. You open the door. And we will tell them. We will tell them of the amazing child that he is and means. Yeah. Will there be a actual application form that people will need to fill out for the, Christian Dahl Foundation if they want to, need help to get their yes into an event? Yes. So, the foundation will pay the fees directly to the organizing group. It won't be, directly to a parent or guardian and anything like that. So, after the golf tournament is complete and we have the the money ready to go, then the, the, form will be uploaded to our Facebook site. And if you don't have access to Facebook, you can send us an email and we will send you the, the application form. We just need to know what organization, when the program starts, what the dates are, what you're requesting. If you needed, any other if you needed equipment, that sort of thing. And something that's really important to us is to really understand what will it mean for your child to be able to participate in it? We it's not a big forum. It's not an onerous form, but we really want to to understand what the child will be again in that, in that process. So and that's really it. It's fairly simple. Do you have the email address. The it's the Christian Dahl Foundation at gmail.com. Okay. Yes. Yeah. I was going to ask you to when your previous visit here, you, launched your book, courage in the corners. How's that going? It's going it's going really well. I, I've currently sold just just over 2500 books. So I launched my book launch was in November. I'm so happy to know I, I've gotten many emails from many people who the stories resonated with them. So, who are having a hard time whether their child had passed recently or a long time ago, it is. It's something really hard to settle in your mind. I have a very strong belief in God, which is the primary, focus throughout the book. And that's what's really helped me through the last couple of years here. So it's been heartwarming. And that's all I, I actually wrote the book for my ex-husband Mike and for Mika, and that was it. That's I wanted them to understand the, Me really like how this had affected me. So, being able to help people beyond the two of them is just a blessing. That, is over and above anything that I had hoped for for it. So I did return to work, in December part time. So I kind of put the book, promo about on hold. But yes. Yeah. When a tragedy happens, it's always difficult to understand why. But you can see God's hand at work in the interim in spreading the memory of Christian. That's right. Yeah it is. That's why is the hardest question. And through through my faith and through this time, I have come to realize that I'm not going to understand the why here and now. But that there is a plan, plan for good. Not. Not for evil and not to harm us. So, Yes, we're we're making a way, for some good to come from this. Well, I'm sure we'll have another visit, Josie, when we'll talk about some of the other exciting things that are going to happen to honour Christian's memory. I would love that. Thank you for the visit. Thank you so much. I'm.