One-woman parade is more than a “Drop in the Bucket” for charity

Carol Sheardown pours her heart and soul into everything she does, including her recent costume parade to raise funds for her Ghana-based charity, Dekpor School Development Organisation (DSDO).

As the Aurora-based founder of the charity—the other founder, Linda Chow Kordze, moved to Ghana full-time—Sheardown's A Drop In the Bucket costume has deep meaning, especially for the children in Ghana who have to walk five kilometres several times a day just to fetch water.

When the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon became a virtual event in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sheardown, who is the DSDO administrator for the marathon, decided to make lemonade out of the lemons tossed their way.

“I participate in the marathon's Charity Challenge to raise funds and awareness for DSDO.  The money raised from this event, 100 per cent of it, goes to replenish our emergency medical fund and to finance our food programme. For the past eight years, I've worn a costume that is somehow related to our work in rural Ghana.”

Sheardown wanted to continue to uphold the tradition of wearing a costume and draw attention to the cause. Quite fittingly, she chose World Food Day and World Eradication of Poverty Day to walk around Town in her costume for three hours.

“My one-woman parades have been fun. There have been plenty of wide-eyes, head-turns, laughs, honks, waves, and even those who have dropped their cash into the bucket. I hadn't even made it out of my driveway the first day when a couple who were out for a walk made the first in-person donation!” said Sheardown.

The long-time Aurora resident also added a global dimension to the run this year.

“It occurred to me that because it is virtual, this may be the only chance for anyone in the world to participate in the Toronto marathon, so I reached out to a few supporters who I thought may just be willing to help to make it a global affair. Our team now includes three of us in Ontario, a family in British Columbia, one in Michigan, one in Colorado, and one of my former students who currently lives in Australia. My co-director, Linda, even had the kids at the school in Dekpor do the run and I shared the video on our Facebook page,” she added.

Sheardown jokingly addresses herself as the CEEC (Chief Executive of Everything Canada) of DSDO, which she admits is a whimsical, non-existent but descriptive title.

“I am in contact with Linda every day but I run the Canada side of things on my own. What I do here completely determines what can be accomplished there,” said the teacher, whose team has surpassed their $23,000 goal by raising $26,737.24. The funds help DSDO provide two meals to children in their school every day.

“Kids are often sent off to school for the 7 a.m. start with either a handful of peanuts for the day or nothing at all. Sadly, my co-director has seen kids pass out on far too many occasions. The first question she asks is, ‘When did you last eat?' and the responses are often heartbreaking. The fact that we offer two nutritious meals every school day is precisely what encourages many students to attend classes.”

The funds raised also go towards their emergency medical fund. Especially in a pandemic, the already-vulnerable have little to rely on. Dekpor has one clinic that Sheardown and her co-director helped open. It is run by three nurses and they don't have any COVID-19 test kits.

“It seems as though no one in the village of approximately 8,000 has contracted the virus, but, who really knows? Malaria also presents with flu-like symptoms, and malaria is a constant threat in Dekpor. The money we raise by participating in the marathon goes toward this. We know we have saved lives.”

For more information or to donate, please visit Dekpor School Development Organisation on Facebook or at dekporschool.org/Dekpor_School_Development_Organisation/Home.html.

By Kinjal Dagli Shah