Janelle Bruneau isn’t one to ask for help, but the Saskatoon mom got a surprise this week thanks to the C95 Christmas Wish team.
Her home was filled with gifts, food, decorations and a brand new car in the driveway.
“I’m just trying to take all this in,” Bruneau said following a tour of her home. “It just makes me feel grateful that people care.”
The single mother of two sons Tyler, 8, and Trey, 4, worked hard to get her Grade 12 diploma. She had just begun a Youth Care Worker diploma program when Trey was diagnosed with leukemia.
Since then, the family has been taking taxis or catching rides to the hospital to pick up Trey’s medication. The first car Bruneau bought turned out to be a lemon, but the team surprised her with a brand new one.
The trio arrived home to find a whole team of Santa-hat clad volunteers and friends waiting for them outside with smiles and applause. Bruneau was nominated by her relative, Sheila Pocha, and a friend she made at the Royal University Hospital whose child was also receiving treatment. Pocha said it was Bruneau’s determined spirit that led her to nominate her.
“I was thinking this would be a really good wish for her if she could just receive this it would be unbelievable,” Pocha said. “I was overwhelmed. I had tears in my eyes.”