Shawn Wood still plans to start a foundation in his late wife Emily’s name, but it may not be for awhile.
The young couple touched the hearts of many in the Comox Valley when Shawn gave 24-year-old Emily her dream wedding as her dying wish in the summer.
Emily, (née Niinemets) had aggressive large-cell lymphoma cancer, and just 10 days after she was told her treatment wasn’t working the couple married. She passed away only 11 days after that, even though she was given three to 12 months to live.
The couple didn’t have enough money for Emily’s wish and didn’t easily fit into other charities’ categories for help.
So, instead Shawn fundraised money for their wedding himself. He ended up receiving more money than they needed for the wedding due to an outpouring of support for the community, and he vowed to create the Emily Ann Foundation to help others in similar situations after Emily’s death.
He had been sorting out the logistics for the Emily Ann Foundation earlier this fall.
Unfortunately, after some research he realized he didn’t have enough funds to feasibly start a foundation so he gave the saved money away.
“I had a small amount of cash from fundraising that I have given in small chunks to other organizations,” he said via e-mail.
“As for the organizations I helped, I did so mostly anonymously I helped people I heard about dealing with cancer in small ways.”
Shawn added he still has “every intention” to start up the Emily Ann Foundation at some point in the future.
writer@comoxvalleyrecord.com
