Butterfly League monthly donations launches
The focus is on Chatham-Kent children and the future.
That’s the message from organizers behind the Butterfly League from the Chatham-Kent Children’s Treatment Centre (CKCTC) Foundation.
The league took flight Oct. 7 at the treatment centre, and it’s looking for supporters who contribute on a monthly basis to help fuel some of the programs offered by the centre.
Mike Genge, president and CEO of the CKCTC Foundation, said the league is an effort to develop fundraising consistency.
“It’s about looking after the kids and keeping things consistent. We go through all these events, and they go up and down. But having a monthly donor program gives us the sustainability to forecast into the future,” he said. “The last thing we want to do is provide funding one year and the next year go, ‘Oh, shoot, we can’t do that.’”
Catie Hawryluk, board member with the Foundation, said each dollar raised by the Butterfly League will be directed into programs and services not covered by government funding.
“Things like music therapy, adaptive recreation, social work and family support programs,” she said. “The programs help children build strength, confidence, communication skills and independence. They also help caregivers feel supported and hopeful that their children grow and reach new milestones.”
Erin Genge, the foundation’s manager of community engagement and events, said the Butterly League was “born out of the stories and spirit of the children we serve here.
“Every day, we get to see incredible kids who show us what transformation really looks like,” she said. “They remind us that growth doesn’t always happen overnight. It can take patience and care and the right environment to spread your wings.”
Butterflies have remained a theme with the CKCTC Foundation, from the Butterfly Build campaign for the new facility under construction on McNaughton Avenue East in Chatham, to the new league.
“A butterfly as we know, begins as something very small. It’s a quiet spark of potential. It becomes something beautiful and full of life. That journey mirrors what happens here. Children gain new skills, confidence and independence through therapy and community support,” Erin Genge said. “Small, consistent acts of generosity can create conditions for incredible transformation.”
Hawryluk agreed.
“Those small monthly gifts will add up. Every dollar counts,” she said. “If our team is able to say yes when a family needs extra help, this is what we’re after. A few dollars a month may not feel like much on its own. But together they create thousands of hours of therapy and countless moments of progress here every day.”
This year’s goal of the league is to develop 100 contributors, with a minimum donation of $25 a month as the wish list. Mike Genge said at that point – $300 a year – the Canada Revenue Agency will recognize it as a charitable commitment and issue a 44-per-cent credit come tax time.
Genge said the expectation is the giving will become habit.
“Once you start doing it (giving on a monthly basis), you forget about it. It allows us to do some forecasting, see some consistency, and look after our kids long into the future,” he said.
The following year, the quest will be to sign up 100 more to the league. And the process repeats itself the following year.
“We’re building this sustainability so we can be there for the long term,” Mike Genge said. “It’s about our kids.”
To join the Butterfly League, where every dollar raised stays in Chatham-Kent, visit
https://ctcf-ck.com/butterfly-league/.
