Making sure all women have a happy Mother’s Day

By Chris Jones/The Oshawa Express

With Mother’s Day on the way, an Oshawa man is looking to make sure mothers in women’s shelters have a happy day, too.

Oshawa resident William Smith has started a GoFundMe page in his late mother’s name, Victoria Smith. The GoFundMe, called “Flowers for Mothers,” has raised more than $1,100 so far, more than double its goal of $500.

It all began last year after his mother passed away on April 27, 2019.

“I grew up in a single parent home, and, thankfully, we never had to endure anything in terms of abuse or anything like that… but my mother, in spite of us growing up lower class or blue collar, she always found it in her heart to give to others,” explains Smith.

Whether it was donating, food drives, or holidays, helping those in need came naturally to Smith’s mother.

“She always had a soft spot for helping those in need, and, as I got older, I began to see what a profound effect it had on me, and the kindness and love that she had to help those regardless of the situation they were in,” says Smith.

As he got older, got married and started to make his own way in the world, Smith and his mother began to work together to help others.

“Whether it was toy drives, or anything really, we’ve always felt that if everyone does a little more in the world, it can be a better place,” says Smith. “The world can be hard for people, so acts of kindness, big or small, go a long way towards people’s faith in humanity being restored.”

When Smith’s mother was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer, they had a few months before she passed.

Smith says his mother was like his best friend, calling her a confidant, and says they would go to the gym, film festivals, and everything together.

“She had passed away right before Mother’s Day [last year], and because of what she had instilled in me, I felt it was important to keep her name and her vision… of helping people in kindness going, and that would be her tangible legacy.”

For Smith, his mother’s legacy can be found through himself, his family, his two sons, and their choice to help women in need, especially those in shelters fleeing domestic violence.

“Thinking about women in shelters and what they’re going through and how their lives get turned upside down very suddenly, we felt like… they would have things at Christmas and so forth where people would think of them, and I thought maybe they wouldn’t on Mother’s Day as much,” says Smith.

So, he very quickly put together the first GoFundMe campaign last year with his wife, and says it was a success, raising approximately $1,100.

The funds raised will make sure all of the women and children in the shelters will have their brunches taken care of, all the women will have flowers on Mother’s Day, and there will be cards, gift cards, and maybe some money leftover to help out.

The two shelters Smith says he will be donating the money to are Oshawa’s Denise House and Wise Wish.

This year, while they have far surpassed what Smith calls a “modest” goal, the GoFundMe is still open for donation at https://ca.gofundme.com/f/1mtht2e1xc.

With Mother’s Day right around the corner, Smith implores everyone to appreciate the mothers in their lives.

“Not just their own mothers, but their wives, grandmothers, women in their community that are very selfless and do so much and act as the glue and the heartbeat of a lot of our families.”