Hope for Young Hearts' first-ever fundraiser, Fund for Every Heart, was an incredible success! Thanks to the generosity of everyone in the Richmond Hill community, we raised over $200 to support children’s heart health initiatives. The event not only raised vital funds but also spread awareness across the Greater Toronto Area. It was truly heartwarming to see so many people come together to support the cause, and we are deeply grateful to everyone who made this event possible!

We were honoured to receive an official Letter of Greeting from Premier Doug Ford in recognition of our efforts to support children with heart conditions. This message highlights the impact of our community-driven initiatives in raising awareness, fostering compassion, and contributing to life-saving care. It serves as a meaningful reminder that youth-led action can create real change across Ontario.

Throughout the months of September and October, we visited five schools across the York Region district, including Bayview Secondary School, The Bishop Strachan School, St. Robert Catholic High School, Holy Trinity School, and Markville Secondary School. Event participants put on sunglasses and took pictures to show support for heart health and Hope for Young Hearts!

One of our co-founders, Jenna, had the opportunity to present her own research findings, which revealed that head-down bed rest led to an increase in mean heart rate and changes in heart rate variability. This indicates that cardiovascular responses are correlated with sleep health. All in all, we would love to extend a heartfelt thank-you for the incredible opportunity to learn and connect with such passionate experts in the field of geroscience. 

Hope for Young Hearts is excited to announce its Youth Council, which includes 26 executives from schools across the York Region District School Board. To create a diverse and well-rounded team, we recruited members from five schools: Bayview Secondary School, The Bishop Strachan School, St. Robert Catholic High School, Holy Trinity School, and Markville Secondary School. Each executive takes on a specific role in logistics, marketing, finance, or fundraising, helping our team stay organized as we raise awareness about heart disease in children.

Ignite Fair X YRES Volunteer Fair is an annual volunteer fair for youth aged 12-30, taking place on October 25, 2025, at the Thornhill Community Center. The event connects youth volunteers with over 40 nonprofit organizations presenting a wide range of volunteer opportunities. Since its inaugural event in 2014, Ignite Fair has hosted nine volunteer fairs, reached over 7,900 people through its events and initiatives, facilitated more than 29,000 volunteer hours, and featured over 400 organizations dedicated to community impact.

Gifted Hearts is a Christmas event in collaboration with SickKids and the Angel Card Project. Within our community, we hosted a toy drive where over 15 toys were generously donated, and more than 50 heartfelt cards were written by students in the YRDSB community, bringing joy and comfort to young heart patients this winter season. Through this initiative, we were joined by over 80 passionate individuals who shared in our mission to spread hope, warmth, and care. Every gift and card represents not just a moment of happiness, but a reminder to these children that they are supported by a caring community.

Hope for Young Hearts has received a letter of appreciation from The Hospital for Sick Children in recognition of our Gifted Hearts Christmas Event. The letter highlights the positive impact of our toy and book donations in bringing joy to young heart patients and their families during the holidays.

Hope for Young Hearts is thrilled to announce the launch of its upcoming podcast series, which will soon be available on YouTube and Spotify! We will be featuring conversations with cardiologists, heart disease survivors and parents, university professors, therapists, and psychologists, sharing diverse perspectives on children’s heart health, research, and well-being.

On January 23rd, the Hope for Young Hearts Heart Archives event was featured on the York Region News. The article detailed photos of the world-record 25 m² origami heart and our community writing notes as support. The article amassed over 10,000 engagements across the GTA.

With a formal letter of recognition from Premier Doug Ford, we launched our second Fund for Every Heart fundraiser event at the Angus Glen Community Centre. Raising over $850.00, the event promoted heart-healthy habits by selling organic freezies and distributing educational pamphlets on children’s heart disease. In partnership with LiveWise and Somnette, over 120 total attendees participated by sharing messages on the Heart Message board.

Hope for Young Hearts received a letter of greeting from Mayor West for our upcoming Heart Archives Event! We are incredibly honored and grateful for this recognition. It is inspiring to see our community leaders supporting initiatives that raise awareness for heart health and engage young people in meaningful causes. We look forward to sharing more updates as we get closer to the event and continue making a positive impact in our community.

We hosted the Heart Archives Event, inviting over 40 participants to post messages of support for young heart patients on an origami heart cutout at the Bayview Hill Community Centre. The event garnered significant attention, including a letter of greeting from Mayor David West and coverage on York Region Newsroom. We broke a new Guinness World Record for the largest origami heart, creating meaningful awareness for our community.

With recognition from Richmond Hill’s Mayor, David West, we secured February 5 as Hope for Young Hearts Day. This holiday is dedicated to recognizing the strength of children living with heart disease and raising awareness within the community. It brings people together to learn and take action for children with heart conditions.

Collaborating with SickKids Hospital’s February Steps Challenge, we engaged over 20 community members to participate within their local neighbourhoods. For every 10 km completed, $50.00 was raised per participant, with a total of $500.00. All proceeds were directed toward supporting partner organizations, including SickKids, Save a Child’s Heart, Plan International, and the Canadian Sleep Society.