Stop and smell the sunflowers: Lambton County fields bloom for boy taken by leukemia
Miracle Max's Minions has raised more than $450,000 for childhood cancer support
It's a sight to see. The fields upon fields full of bright, yellow sunflowers in Lambton County are hard to miss.
More than two million sunflowers will bloom in memory of two-year-old Max Rombouts of Thedford, Ont., who died of leukemia in 2019. Since the first seeds were planted five years ago, the farmers behind Miracle Max's Minions have raised more than $450,000 for charity, says organizer Brian Schoonjans.
"It's magical. It's hard to not smile when you're surrounded by a field of sunflowers," Schoonjans said. "It's just been filled with miracles and inspiration."
This time of year, the fields of yellow attract passersby who pull over for photos, including along Highway 21 at 7184 Lakeshore Rd. in Lambton Shores, where sunflowers are in full bloom.
Four other sites where people can pick the flowers will come to bloom soon, Schoonjans said, including near Watford and along Highway 22.
"Our goal was to make sure Max's name was remembered," he said, and, "to make sure all funds that we collect go to helping families with children fighting terminal illnesses."
'He was our everything'
Schoonjans first met Max's parents, Kevin and Jamie Rombouts, selling seeds. When he heard Max's cancer had returned and there was nothing more that could be done, he set out to turn a piece of pasture land into a sunflower field in his honour.
"To us as a family, the sunflower field just means that Max will never be forgotten," said Max's mom, Jamie.
"He was our everything," she said. "He was just the most happy-go-lucky little boy. For everything he endured in his life, the little rascal always had a smile on his face."
The Rombouts chose the charitable organizations based on the support they were given, including Profyle, which researches pediatric cancers, the London-based Childcan, and the Ronald McDonald House, where Jamie spent 144 consecutive nights and two more months staying.
Financial stressors can pile on with a child's cancer diagnosis, often with a parent having to quit their job or go on leave — not to mention adding additional expenses like eating out and hospital parking, which can add up day after day, she said.
It puts a smile on her face to know the community has come together to help families, she said.
Through Childcan, families with children battling cancer at London's Children's Hospital can have hospital parking fees covered in his memory. The organization was their "number one" support when they were going through Max's cancer journey, Jamie said.
"The simple fact of a parking pass out there with Max's face on it is beyond anything we could ask for," she said.
"It's one of those things that you never as a parent want to have that goodbye. But the reality of it is, we did, but we're making the right choices and hopefully making other families' journeys not as difficult as ours was."
'It just turns your whole life upside down'
Suzanne Fratschko Elliott is the executive director of Childcan, which has been supporting families navigating childhood cancer diagnoses for 50 years.
Cancer treatments can range anywhere from six weeks to three years, she said.
"Very often it's an incredibly stressful time," she said. "It just turns your whole life upside down."
The organization supports about 250 families annually at different stages of their journey, she said.
Any given year, about 80 to 100 families receive a new diagnosis and require hospital parking, she said. "When they receive that diagnosis, they're overwhelmed and the last thing they want to think about is parking."
The parking pass allows them to come and go as they need.
Miracle Max's Minions donations to Childcan have totalled more than $230,000 in five years, with more coming this year, she said
"It's just amazing what they have accomplished and the impact that they have had," she said.
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