Meet Bug, age 13, and Boo, age 11. These two Hillsdale sisters are the face of Bug and Boo’s Dream Team.
“Honestly, I don’t know how it originated but that’s just what I was called since I was very little,” said Lexi Durham of her nickname, Bug. “It’s like a second name for me now.”
Lexi, along with her sister Ryleigh ‘Boo’ Durham, have been fundraising for SickKids hospital in Toronto since 2018, and they have two fundraisers planned in Midland next week.
On Monday Aug. 29, Bug and Boo’s Dream Team will be hosting a Harvey’s and Swiss Chalet Day at the 9340 CR-93 location, with 10 per cent of all sales going to their team in support of the 2022 GetLoud campaign.
The following Saturday, Sept. 3, the sisters will be selling lemonade across the road at Canadian Tire starting in the early morning.
“The goal this year is $6,000 which will get them over the $20,000 mark for GetLoud for SickKids,” explained their mother, Cass Durham.
“The hospital hasn’t had a huge rework in a really long time. Children travel from all over the world to be cared for at SickKids, and they do a lot of live-saving surgeries that are not done anywhere else," she explained of the highly acclaimed hospital.
“GetLoud is that big event that we’re leading up to, which is on Oct. 1 this year, and it will be the first one in-person since 2019 so everybody’s really excited,” added Cass.
Bug and Boo’s Dream Team has an interesting origin. Bug was interested in fundraising during her kindergarten year and intended to set up a book sale, when the necessity to have her appendix surgically removed forced her to go to SickKids for care.
“I met a few little girls while I was there,” Bug said of her time recovering in the hospital.
Through those interactions and the stories of other families with loved ones in care, the Durhams renewed their efforts to raise as much money as possible. A Christmas craft sale raised $500 for SickKids, and the years have only been kinder to Bug and Boo.
When the time came to choose a team fundraising name, the dream for Bug became an obvious choice and Bug and Boo’s Dream Team was born.
Is fundraising and helping others something that Bug could see doing in the many years ahead?
“A hundred per cent,” Bug said firmly. "I want to continue into this later on in my life and I think it’s just going to stick for a long time to come.
“I want to be the CEO of a non-profit company called Bug and Boo’s Dream Team,” she added with a big laugh in regards to her ambitions down the road.
Boo was much quieter, and noted that unlike her bigger sister, she was keeping her options open.
Further information on Bug and Boo’s Dream Team can be found on their social media pages through Instagram and Facebook.
To learn more about the 2022 GetLoud campaign, visit the official website from the SickKids Hospital.
