10 - The Oakville Beavef, W e d n e s d a y N o v e m b e r 1, 2006 www.oakvillebeaver.com 0 ^ Oakville Beaver^ Living By Herb Garbutt SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Stop Smoking in 1 Hour 1 -8 7 7 -7 G 7 -0 9 7 3 · WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1. 2006 Olympic athletes have their own hero in Holly Think of Olympic athletes and Oakville and the names of Donovan Bailey, Adam van Koeverden and Larry Cain come to mind. But talk to Canadian ath letes and those famous names now have to share the spotlight with Holly Micuda. The 11-year-old Our Lady of Peace Elementary School student is becoming quite the celebrity am ong Canadian athletes since she began selling wristbands to raise money for Olympic athletes and Olympic hope fuls. "Everybody's heard of her," said van Koeverden, the kayaker who won a gold and bronze medal at the Athens Olympics in 2004. "I told some people that I was going to a school where this girl has been raising money for athletes and they said, `Oh, you're going to see Holly.'" Micuda has sold more than 17,000 wristbands with the proceeds going to Canadian Athletes Now, a non-profit organization that raises funds to support Canadian athletes' training, coaching and living expens es in preparation for interna tional competition. She is featured prominently on the organization's website take such an interest in Canadian athletes, and not just wonder about helping them , but to actually do som ething about it, is incredible," Flynn said. "It's am azing," van Koeverden said. "If $2 goes to the athletes, she's raised $35,000. That funds seven athletes. You consider the impact she's had, and she's only 11. I hope she realizes what kind of impact she's had. We can't thank her enough." The idea came to Micuda as she was w atching the Turin Olympics. She had a class assignm ent about w hether athletes deserved more funding. Unlike most people, she didn't stop with an opinion. She took action. "I thought they deserved more fundraising and the wristbands were a big hit, so I thought I'd sell wristbands to raise money for them." Even Holly's mom, Michelle Micuda. wasn't sure how long the idea would hold her daughter's interest but she soon found out. "None of us took it that seriously at first but she researched it all, found a charity by searching the internet and called them. The founder calls and leaves a message, 'Holly, call me after you're done your homework." It turns out Holly already had done her homework. She presented a case to Our Lady of Peace principal John Cuzzo to sell the wristbands in the school. "Every time I asked her a question about how it was going to work, she had the answer," Guzzo said. "She had the purchase price, where the money was going. She had all the right infor mation." Canadian Athletes Now told Micuda that if she could raise $2,000, they would send an Olympic athlete to her school. She did that and Kellar, of the gold-medal w inning w om en's hockey team, visited the school. The sales got another boost when Canadian Athletes Now (CAN) invited her to the Ottawa Marathon to sell wristbands at their booth. Micuda has since attended several events with CAN. Though her original goal was to raise $2,000, now that Micuda has the support of CAN and the athletes behind her, she has upped the stakes substantially. She now hopes to sell 500,000 wristbands. "Whether it helps 10 ath letes or 2,000 athletes, the fact that she showed this ini tiative is impressive," Guzzo said. Like many young Canadians who watch the Olympics, Micuda has her own aspirations of one day representing her country. "I figure skate," Micuda said. "Going to the Olympics is kind of a wild dream." Of course, so is an 11year-old raising $35,000 to help others achieve that goal. RON KUZYK / OAKVILLE BEAVER THANKS MOLLY: Olympic Gold medalist Adam van Koeverden and Oakville MPP Kevin Flynn visited Holly Micuda and her Grade 6 class at Our Lady of Peace to thank her for selling more than 17,000 Canadian Athletes Now wristbands to support Canadian Olympic Athletes. Flynn also wrote her a cheque for 103 wristbands -- one for each MPP in the Ontario legislature. (w w w .c a n a d ia n a th le te s now.ca), where the $3 wrist bands can be purchased. The red and white wristbands are inscribed with Canadian Athletes Now on the outside and a slogan Micuda created -- Don't just hope they'll win, help them win -- on the inside. Since she started selling the wristbands, Micuda has met many of the athletes she is helping -- Becky Kellar, Sami Jo Small of the w om en's hockey team, swim m er Mike Brown, beach volleyball player Conrad Leinermann, trampolinist H eather Ross McManus, w restler Evan McDonald -- and has been in contact with many more through e-mail. Van Koeverden joined that list when he and MPP Kevin Flynn stopped by Our Lady of Peace on Thursday to congratulate Micuda for her efforts. Flynn added to her sales totals, buying 103, one for each MPP. "For such a young lady to We Know M O R T G A G E S 'We specialize in hard to place m ortgages" 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Mortgages Residential and Commercial Debt Consolidation Power of Sale Refinancing No Up Front Fees Up to 100% Financing O.A.C. Apartment Buildings and Construction Loans Self Employed and Discharged Bankrupts Buy, Sell and Arrange all Types of Mortgages Equity Financing - No Income Required Private Funds for Unqualified Bank Deals C "M o t> b le ^ IO a s o n r y & N E n ib e r 3 F ir e p la c e D e s ig n S p e c i a l i s t s 99 T ire d o f Y o u r O ld F i r e p l a c e ? S p ix c t e f t f a K e tc d a ^ . A TRA D ITIO N IN OAKVILLE THE IROQUOIS RIDGE HOLIDAY CRAFT SHOW }Wander through our 90 Vendor offering you the best in fashion, home decor, furniture & gourmetfoods. 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