An Amherstburg family was ticketed by police over the weekend and a local business is stepping in to pay the fine.
The family was holding an outdoor fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation after their nine-year-old daughter was recently diagnosed with the disease.
Because of COVID, the event was held outdoors on the lawns of three different homes in the neighbourhood and involved 100 minutes of activity, including basketball, road hockey and soccer, to mark the 100th anniversary of the discovery of insulin.
Organizer Dana Schmidt says an officer attended and said he was shutting down the event.
"I said 'You've come at the very tail end of this, we have 10 minutes left of activity time to get in our goal of 100 minutes, would you talk to me for the next 10 minutes so we can at least be successful in reaching that goal?' and he agreed to that and then he served my husband with a fine of $880."
After hearing about the fine on AM800's The Dan MacDonald Show, Ben Snow, the owner of Men in Kilts Window Cleaning, called in to say he was going to donate $1,000 to cover the cost of the ticket and leftover money can go towards the fundraiser.
"I just figured if we can help out with the ticket and help out with the cause it's a win-win and I mean I think everybody just needs a little bit of love right now and a little bit of kindness," he says.
Snow believes it's too bad Dana and here family were punished for trying to do the right thing.
"It's a good thing that she was doing, spreading the good word and what you should do," he adds. "I've got a couple of family members with diabetes and I know how much of a struggle it can be so if we can help them out then it's all good and makes her day a little easier."
Between fundraising efforts on Sunday and through online donations, Schmidt says they've raised about $2,800 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
As heard on the @danmac800 show this morning on @am800cklw - @MenInKilts has donated $1,000 to Dana and her family after they were ticketed on Sunday for holding an outdoor fundraiser for @JDRF_Canada pic.twitter.com/zMTXsrPCt2
— Kristylee Varley (@KVarley800) June 14, 2021