We’re actually saving lives

Volunteers with the Patrick4Life Foundation kicked of a major fundraiser at Northgate Shopping Centre Tuesday. The first annual Patrick4Life 3 Car Raffle for just $25 per ticket offers folks a one in three chance to win a new vehicle while supporting the development and implementation of HIV/AIDS education programs for youth.

Patrick Fortin, a brave young man who contracted HIV/ AIDS at age 7 through tainted blood and died in 2001 at the age of 23, had a wish that his legacy of hope for zero AIDS would continue through youth and education.


Christine Fortin (pictured with Mayor Al McDonald), Founding member and Patrick’s mother, says the group is founded in their mission to open the door to educating everyone about HIV/AIDS and removing the stigma that has prevented uninhibited conversations about the disease.

“It is the spirit of Patrick actually,” she says about remaining upbeat when reliving her family’s loss.

“He accepted what happened to him and so we will do the same. And so we work with optimism and the days go by so easily working with this. The teams are wonderful we continue to have the support we had from day one and we build and build and build."

“Because HIV is a reality in every community I would like to shape a generation of youth that are starting a courageous conversation about HIV and AIDS in their families and in their classrooms so that each child in each classroom in the province of Ontario can experience a program such as ours, the ParticiPatrick program that is age appropriate.”

“We have Patrick’s Wish the story of Patrick written we’ve read it in classrooms to younger students we are not creating fear around the disease we are looking at it in a wellness way. We are creating strong leadership through our Youth4Youth team and all of this snowballs into a person having the experience that they are never going to forget over 10 weeks.”

“And we’re actually saving lives. There are one thousand people infected with HIV every year in Ontario still and we do not want to create the fear that we had to live with as a family and we held secret for 10 years. So it is very important for us find a friendly way to talk about this.”



Fortin says the car draw is creating visibility for the group and with that they hope to raise $60,000 which in turn will help them supply teachers and youth the tools necessary to expand the program province wide.

Tickets are just $25 and are available at the Patrick4Life office located at 195 First Avenue West and various businesses across the city or by calling 705-223-4728.

The draw takes place June 25th at the Rotary shelter on the waterfront at 3pm.