Kip Powick Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Those of us in Ontario have heard the story of 3 year old Elijah Marsh…..wandered out of his Grandmothers apartment in nothing but a diaper, t-shirt, and boots and into the freezing cold at 4:00am. Found extremely hypothermic and passed away. A true tragedy, heartbreak that all of us who are parents would not wish on anyone.Lots of media coverage but no sign of the mother, (I think she is a single mother), or the father or the grandmother.An Individual in the Toronto area was so touched that he started a crowd funding venture. His initial goal was to get $10,000 for the funeral, and then he moved the objective to $20,000. The fund is presently at $144,446.00.He has stated, in the Press, that he will give all the money to the family.While I commend his initial actions I do question the dispensing of the money. I have no problem with the money being expended on a funeral and some other reasonable associated expenses but take issue that the balance is being allocated to the family, and at this time I believe the “family’ is just the mother and perhaps the grandmother.No amount of money can bring the child back, nor ease the mental anguish the NOK are going through but it would seem to me that crowd funding monies would be more appropriately distributed if a substantial amount was given to this family to offset the funeral and associated expenses and the remainder given to a children’s charity. The first one that comes to mind is the Toronto Sick Children’s Hospital.Almost a child a day passes at the Sick Kids and no one hands out 140K to those grieving parents for a “funeral” yet the heartfelt generosity of Canadians, and some out of country individuals, is going to give this grieving mother almost an estimated, 3 years of salary due to the loss of her child.I know life is not always fair, but I really can’t stop thinking of other children that never make it out of the hospital, that possibly suffer for years, and the stress their parents go through. While I applaud everyone’s generosity I really think the author of the crowd funding venture, for Elijah Marsh’s funeral, did not think the whole plan through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seeker Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 You don't have to be in Ontario to have heard about this - it's news in the rest of Canada and various newspapers and websites around the world. I've had this discussion with several people - now that the child has died over $144,000 becomes donated but when he was alive there was no money. I don't know what his family situation was but no doubt that a few well-placed dollars when he was alive would have lowered the chance of this happening.I think the well-intentioned person who started the crowdfunding made a mistake to say that all money would be donated to this specific family. As Kip says, a much better idea would have been to say that all money would be donated to a certain organization (like the Red Cross for example) who would assist the family and then use the remaining money for other families in need. I'm afraid that this family will be handed a cheque for 200 grand and the vast majority of the money will be wasted.This is not the first time something like this has happened. Remember the guy who started the crowdfunding for the bullied bus monitor? http://thechronicleherald.ca/canada/135081-703000-raised-for-bullied-bus-monitor. He wanted to raise enough money to give her a vacation but eventually the donations reached $703,000! He gave it all to her. A huge waste of people's generousity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Mother charged after child found wandering naked in EtobicokeRead more: http://www.cp24.com/news/mother-charged-after-child-found-wandering-naked-in-etobicoke-1.2245879#ixzz3SOTfwC7gthis was just yesterday, better outcome than the little innocent who died but whatever happened to basic parenting? The first thing we did was to childproof our home once our firstborn was able to crawl / walk. Simple to do and very little cost involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cp fa Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 How about the New Zealand father who is now $500,000 richer after his story went viral? His Armenian wife gave birth to a Downs baby, and wanted to put the baby up for adoption, so he filed for divorce and planned to take the baby back to New Zealand. Now it turns out he already had 4 children back in New Zealand from a previous litigation he hasn't seen in years, and was charged with assaulting his father in law before he moved to Armenia. And, he still hasn't left Armenia. I wonder if he reconciles with the baby's mother and stays in Armenia, what happens to that money? And even if he moves back to NZ and raises the child on his own, does that really cost $500,000?http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2962603/He-legal-access-choice-not-wife-man-accused-second-partner-abandoning-syndrome-baby-says-chose-leave-four-kids-revealed-assaulted-dad.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mo32a Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 There is a reason I don't donate to these things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cp fa Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 For the most part, they're not registered charities, I don't know if there is even a legal requirement to provide an accounting of how the money was spent, and yet people seem to be willing to give money away without even knowing if the recipient is being up front about the circumstances. There's a sucker born every minute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEFCON Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Does, or will offers of charity motivate others 'to do things' to their children to get ahead themselves? I've been told third world kids are often maimed for life, blinded purposely for instance, to confer an advantage to them when they take up begging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seeker Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 I've been told third world kids are often maimed for life, blinded purposely for instance, to confer an advantage to them when they take up begging.Straight out of Slumdog Millionaire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEFCON Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 I haven't seen the film; I got the info from a friend 25 years ago when he flew for Emirates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Hudson Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 DEFCON - Bombay/Mumbai was the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEFCON Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 It's all sad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tailwheel Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 Feel terrible for the family. The money will never come close to making up for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moon The Loon Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 And Sunday, this... http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/brother-and-sister-dead-after-weekend-apartment-fire-in-gatineauReckless abandonment? 20 minutes? Pizza?Deeply saddening episodes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEFCON Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 “It was just oil but nothing was on or anything,” Miller said." We're to believe the oil just spontaneously combusted? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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