A Lake Country couple is carrying on their son鈥檚 memory by making Christmas 2020 a memorable one for a local family.
For the past four years, Addie and Chris Pafiolis have been sponsoring families with money out of pocket for presents and food during the holidays.
It鈥檚 how they鈥檝e chosen to turn a heartbreaking loss into something heartwarming and positive.
In 2017, their son Theo was born with a birth defect known as Hypoplastic left heart syndrome. The heart condition went undiagnosed until 36 hours after his birth. Sadly, just days after welcoming Theo into the world, the couple had to say goodbye.
鈥淲e had five very short days with him until he left this universe for another, and something that we chose to do in his memory right away, starting in 2017, was support some families at Christmas through hard times,鈥� Addie said.
That first year, Chris and Addie fielded private messages on Facebook to find a local family in need of support.
鈥淭hat was really special,鈥� Addie said. 鈥淲e were able to really shower them with some presents and some food for Christmas.鈥�
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In 2018, they decided to spread the support out across multiple families. Through their company 鈥� SweetLegs Clothing Inc. 鈥� they purchased $6,000 worth of Save-on Foods gift certificates and passed them out among the community.
They purchased gift certificates again in 2019, and also found two local families to support.
This year the couple has been busier than ever running an e-commerce business in the middle of the pandemic. But seeing the extra need among local families, they made the extra effort to continue Theo鈥檚 Christmas tradition.
鈥淎lready I can feel that there鈥檚 a lot of people within our community that could really benefit from an extra hand,鈥� Addie said. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 long ago when we were a family that could have used a little extra love, so I think it鈥檚 really important to just pass it forward, especially during a time when everyone is struggling 鈥� mentally, emotionally, you name it,鈥� Addie said.
Addie and Chris have already raised and donated thousands in Theo鈥檚 name for causes ranging from the Canucks Children鈥檚 Hospice to a scholarship at George Elliot Secondary in Lake Country. But Addie says there鈥檚 something extra special about supporting people in her home community.
鈥淭o me, it鈥檚 kind of like a virtual hug,鈥� she said. 鈥淧lus, it keeps our son鈥檚 memory alive, so it鈥檚 important to us.鈥�
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