Congratulations! High school student Bronwyn Lefebvfre raises more than $10,000 for Lupus Ontario

Bronwyn Lefebvre is a high school student who will be attending Carleton University in the fall. In February she organized an ambitious fashion show, fundraising for Lupus Ontario – a disease she has lived with for 13 years.

This is Bronwyn’s very touching thank you speech:

Seven months ago the planning began to create and showcase a dream. The result: a successful event that I am so proud to have organized.

Bronwyn Lefebvfre

I would like to thank all of my sponsors who made this show possible including: Answermen, Mistura, Tress Exquisite Salon, SurePrint, The Tanning Lounge, Susan Campbell RMT, Boston Pizza and Palm Beach Mega Tan.

Another big thank you to all who have donated generously to Lupus Ontario.

Mr. Deller, and the wonderful Ms. Bonenfant, who have bent over backwards for me and have helped me through so much! I very much appreciate it and will never forget your generosity.

The VOYAGE fashion show committee and models: although we had our ups and downs, you helped me realize how amazing people are and it is truly touching. Your countless hours of help, and sincerity and support has shaped me into a better person and I am so fortunate to have had all of you accompany me on creating this dream and allowing it to come true.

To my set designers, Opala and Alenka, who took a vision I had and created it on canvas-  you are truly amazing! My performers who have generously donated their time to showcase their talents. The tech team for allowing this night to be possible and setting up the stage, music, lights, everything! You guys are awesome and are extremely talented and I wish you nothing but success in the future. Thank you to Mr. Murphy and Mr. Mes for having my back and helping me whenever I was in need.

My beautiful friends who have helped me through this journey and given me their time and effort all to make this show a success. I will forever cherish your friendships and thank the world for allowing me to have such beautiful people in my life.

And lastly my family. Mummy, Daddy, Evan and Oscar. Without you, this show would not have been possible. The months you have spent in order to help me produce a dream you knew I had from the very beginning, I so thankful to call you my family and even through the stress, you are always here to help me up when I fall and I love you with all my heart. Mum and Dad, thank you for bringing me into this world and raising me to be the person that I am today.

We have been struggling with this disease for 13 years and you have done everything to make sure I lived a normal life and I am so appreciative to be apart of you.

Being diagnosed with Lupus has kept me from living a life full of freedom and a childhood full of happiness. I never really liked talking about what I suffer from and what I’ve been through but after organizing this event, I have realized that I am not the only one who is suffering and that there are others going through the exact same thing.

Anything is possible: whether you are disabled or have a disease.

I was told that I wouldn’t make it to 20, but I’m 18 and I’m still standing here. I have short term memory, but I have still made gold honour roll and been accepted to my dream program at Carleton University.

Don’t ever let anyone tell you, you are not capable of something. You are capable of anything and everything. Voyage Fashion Show has allowed me to grow and realize that Lupus is a part of me and I am the person that I am today because of it.

This is who I am. Almost losing my life to this disease three times has taught me to live each day as if it were my last and that is why I wanted to run this show because this is the one thing that I have always wanted.

My goal was to raise $4,000. But on March 31st, 2011, I had discovered that over $10,000 was raised and I thank everyone for their tremendous support!

Congratulations Bronwyn, you truly are an inspiration. And from LTO – thank you to the handful of Local Tourists who donated in support of Bronwyn’s cause.

Ambitious high school student Bronwyn Lefebvre plans fashion show to raise funds for Lupus Ontario

Bronwyn Lefebvre is currently raising funds for Lupus Ontario: a cause very close to her heart

Bronwyn Lefebvre is a high school student who will be attending Carleton University in the fall. She enjoys shopping, music and spending time with family and friends in Ottawa – a place she has called home for 18 years.

You’re currently spearheading an ambitious fundraiser for Lupus Ontario. Why is this cause so important to you?

I’ve been living with Lupus since the age of five and every year my school puts together a fashion show to raise funds for a desired charity, so I wanted to take this opportunity to raise money and awareness for Lupus Ontario.

In a way this event has allowed me to grow and realize that I am not the only one who is struggling with this disease. Once I started planning the event and placed my story in local papers and had my logo in Lupus Ontario’s newsletter, I began receiving emails from various women who also suffer from Lupus. They gave me their support and congratulated me on my efforts with the organization.

I’m planning this show not only for myself, but for the millions of others who are also suffering.

At first my school was apprehensive about allowing me to pursue running the show, because in the past, runners have not raised money for the charities, but in the end they gave in. My teachers haven’t been quite as supportive as I would like, and there have been phone calls home and to the guidance counselor because I’ve been working so hard with the fashion show; however, I catch up on weekends with the work I’ve missed. For peers, they have supported me 100 per cent and so has my family, which I am very grateful for.

As the event organizer and coordinator, I’ve been able to delegate tasks to my committee members, and taking on the ones that haven’t been completed myself, hosting modeling auditions, designing the logo and information package, planning the show, contacting various stores and local businesses who are interested in either showcasing their styles or sponsoring the show, collecting donations, running errands, setting up music… It’s definitely been a busy seven months but I wouldn’t change anything and am excited to see how it will all turns out.

How has having Lupus affected your everyday life?

Lupus is a disease that causes the body to not understand the difference between good cells and bad cells, so it attacks itself (for a full medical definition, please click here). When the disease is active (known as a flare) it can attack and affect any organ in the body.

For me, it has affected my heart, blood and brain. I’m not allowed to live a normal life like many teenagers my age. I often feel as though I never had a childhood because I was constantly in and out of the hospital, and the disease has caused me to suffer short term memory, making studying for tests and exams much more challenging.

Voyage will take place Wednesday, February 23rd, 7 P.M., at St Matthew High School (6550 Bilberry Drive Orleans). Tickets are just $10. You can also donate by clicking this image.

Tell us a little bit about Voyage, St. Matthew High School’s fifth annual fashion runway show.

Voyage Fashion Show will be a night to remember with fashion from a variety of stores, designers and performance talent. Mix all that with good music and company and you get St. Matthew High School’s traditional event that will blow everyone away!

Stores to look forward to are: MEXX, Bluenotes, Costa Blanca, Joe Fresh, Christine’s Bridal, West 49, Stella & Dot Jewelry, Moore’s TipTop and Marka’s Boutique, plus various designers fro our very own student body including 1086, Diamond Gold and Jenny, and Megan & Raeanne Designs. Musical talent will include Ottawa’s very own Mike Kleff, Matthew McGeein, St. Matt’s Glee Club and Cheer team and another acoustic performance by Alenka, Breanna and Carl.

What are you hoping will come from this event?

I’m hoping to raise over $4,000 for Lupus Ontario and to make a fundraising name for my high school. This has been my dream to run the fashion show since grade 10, so I am hoping that all my work will pay off. The money raised will help those with Lupus live longer and better by delivering vital support, education, awareness and research.

Has the Ottawa community been very supportive of your cause?

I’ve learned you really need to be a salesperson in order to gain interest towards an event. Generally my close circle has been supportive but it’s been hard trying to reach out to the community.

At Local Tourist Ottawa, we like to celebrate the best of what the Nation’s Capital has to offer. Can you tell us about your perfect day in Ottawa?

I love downtown. I absolutely adore the environment it has to offer: shopping, yummy restaurants and everything I could ever ask for. Some of my all time favourite places to shop would be Aritzia, MAC, Club Monaco and Jacob. Throw all those stores together with some delicious mussels from Mangia and some gelato from Picolo Grande and you have my perfect day.

Thank you for sharing your story with us Bronwyn, you have put an incredible amount of work towards this very good cause! To support Bronwyn and Lupus Ontario please click here.