Young Grand Manan patient gives back to Shriners

A young Grand Mananer recently decided he wanted to give back to the organization that has helped him, and on Saturday, November 25, eight year old Isaac MacKenzie Granger handed over the money he has raised for Shriners hospitals to members of the Mananook Lodge #38, a Shriners partner.
Isaac was born with a club foot, and so far his mother Samantha MacKenzie Granger says he has made 50 trips to the Montreal Shriners Hospital. They went weekly during his first three months, then monthly and after two surgeries they now make the trip every two years. Doctors monitor his progress to ensure his foot doesn't turn inward again during growth spurts. The hospital is one of 22 across North America that provide orthopedic and burn care to children under 18.
The family can't say enough good about the Shriners. All costs are covered from plane tickets to meals, children get a new toy with each medical procedure, and the same team meets them each time, from doctors to airport van drivers. The hospital has "everything a kid would need to be comfortable and excited to go back," Samantha says, including a school for long term patients. "It's never been a traditional hospital; it's not scary. It's not like 'going to the doctor' -- it's going to see his friends."
She and Isaac usually make the trip, but brother Arthur, now seven, once packed himself in a suitcase in hopes of going along. In October Samantha took both of them, and the boys began asking where the money comes from to cover their costs. She says, "When he was old enough we wanted him to understand" how many volunteers give their time, and after she explained things to them, the boys decided they wanted to bake cookies to raise money. "They chose to give back," she says. "It's what every mother would want to see and hear."
They made 250 cookies, which "were bought as quickly as we baked them," as Samantha offered them for sale by donation on community Facebook pages. Family friend Shyloh Brown, 14, joined in to help bake and keep the boys occupied. Plans to sell at the Christmas market evaporated as they were sold out beforehand, but Isaac joined the lodge table when member Phil Ells Sr., a neighbour, heard what Isaac was doing and invited him to share the market table. "They've been so good to him," he says. "We wanted to let people know what Shriners do." He also wanted Isaac's effort to be recognized. "People overlook these things. I thought he deserved some attention."
The lodge has helped send four Grand Manan children to Shriners' hospitals and will work with their Saint John affiliates to determine what is needed when they hear of someone who needs help. Ells notes that Shriners' hospitals do not get any government funding.
Isaac raised $400 on his own, and the total donation at the market was $645. Arthur joined in the spirit of giving by putting a $10 gift a friend gave him into the donation bag. Isaac has a waiting list for next year's cookies, Samantha says. She adds that his grandfather was a Shriner, "so I guess it runs in the family."
Contributions to the Shriners may be arranged through the Grand Manan lodge; contact Rudy Laffoley at ambleinnspraykist@gmail.com.