Helping a Brave Boy’s Wish Come True

2018-06-27

Brave, strong, and full of spirit like a superhero, Ryken Reece at four years old faced leukemia and won.

Now he is battling non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and not doing well. His aunt, Elisha Ruzycki, said of Ryken, “He’s the sweetest little man ever. He will be going to Philadelphia for treatment once funding is figured out as Alberta does not fund out-of-country treatment.”

Fundraising for a Dream Trip

Ryken has always wanted to go to Disney World. Determined to make a fun-filled, carefree holiday with his parents and siblings happen, Elisha threw herself into fundraising. With $15,000 as her goal, she created the Round Trip for Ryken raffle with first- and second-place travel voucher prizes and organized a silent auction on Facebook.

To enter Ryken’s raffle, participants must guess how many gumballs are in a jar, then buy a $10 raffle ticket. Elisha tells us that the gumball jar is to keep the raffle legal so that it does not require a permit in Edmonton, where the family lives.  Participants who purchase tickets not only get to help send Ryken on his dream trip, but they also earn themselves a chance to win a $1,000 or $500 travel voucher.  Elisha will take the cost of the travel vouchers out of the earnings, with the remainder going toward her goal of gifting a wonderful time together to Ryken and his family.

Driven to make sure Ryken got his wish, Elisha dove into marketing head first! She created a Facebook video asking for help starting the auction off with a bang, and then shared it in a Facebook post in which she asked everyone who viewed it to pass it on. Then, she replicated the same effort on Instagram. Additionally, Elisha messaged some accounts with large followings to ask them to share it to their followers. They did, and the Round Trip for Ryken fundraiser took off like a jet!  So far, Elisha has sold 700 tickets and raised $18,500, all of which is before Ryken’s silent auction closes on June 30.  The raffle draw is set for July 1, and Elisha is hoping to sell even more tickets before then!

When searching for raffle tickets, Elisha told us she found us online. “You had a lot of selection and at a good price. I called to find out how long it would take to get them. Customer service was great and shipping was fast although expensive.” We’re honored Elisha chose us to produce Ryken’s raffle tickets, and we wish Ryken and his family the best health along with the best trip to Disney World ever.