Plans are under way for the Inaugural Stephanie Grady Memorial Walk and Family Barbecue on Sunday, September 27th, starting at 12:30 p.m. at the Stephanie Grady Educational Pavilion at the Upper Canada Migratory Bird Sanctuary.
To continue to tell Stephanie’s powerful story and to build upon her legacy, an annual event to support local causes has planned by the Grady family and Team Grady, for the last weekend of September, to mark Stephanie’s birthday.
Friends, family and community members are welcome to come for a relaxing and reflective leisurely walk, while enjoying the fresh air, the company of loved ones, music by local band, “Put it in Park” and a delicious barbecue.
Donations for the barbecue or other events are optional and will support the local Chapter of Camp Erin and the “Getting on Board” project of the St. Lawrence Parks Commission and the Upper Canada Migratory Bird Sanctuary.
Stephanie’s husband, Nick Grady, has been working to ensure a successful event in his wife’s honour.
“In her final days, Stephanie expressed the desire to have something continue in her memory which would help others,” said Nick. “It’s also important for me and for our children to give back to those who helped us during her battle. We are happy to organize this event in Stephanie’s name, and our hope is to make this an annual tradition.”
In addition to facilitating this event, Nick Grady has donated to various regional and local causes.
During the unveiling of the Stephanie Grady Educational Pavilion in October 2014, Grady donated to the Canadian Cancer Society’s Wheels of Hope program for the SD&G region.
In Stephanie’s name, Nick donated to the Cornwall Community Hospital, Winchester District Memorial Hospital and Ottawa General.
Annual Memorial Scholarships have been established for Rothwell-Osnabruck High School and Charlottetown Rural High school in PEI, and bursaries have been allocated for three local churches.
In early April, Nick donated to the Friends of the Sanctuary’s, “Getting on Board” project. He also “played-it-forward” to the Cornwall Girls Hockey Association and to the N.G.S. Minor Hockey Association, in order to ensure youth who may not otherwise have a chance, can play.
The “We’re NUT Givin’ Up” campaign was launched in February 2014, to provide support for Stephanie Grady, a local wife and mother of three who battled a rare form of cancer called NUT Midline Carcinoma.
Grady’s hope for overcoming this form of cancer was an experimental drug called BET Inhibitor, one not covered by Ontario’s health plan.
The high cost of health care in the U.S., where Grady could enter the trials, prompted family and friends to form Team Grady.
Unfortunately, her disease progressed too rapidly for her to start treatment. On May 10th, 2014, just four days after she should have started the trials, she died peacefully in her home with her family by her side.
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