What started out as a way to pass the time during the COVID-19 lockdown for a Fergus mother and daughter has now turned into something much bigger than they expected.

Lisa Johnson and her 7-year-old daughter Kylee have always enjoyed doing arts and crafts together. But over the past year the activities they did together became limited, and they started to run out of things they liked to do together.

However, that was until Lisa stumbled across a candle making kit.

Lisa said her and Kylee started making candles and she had posted a photo of the finished product on her Facebook page, and then many friends and family reached out asking to purchase them.

“I approached Kylee and mentioned, ‘there's a few people who’d like to buy a candle, would you be interested?’” Lisa said. “And Kylee was very much on board, when I asked her what she would like to do with any money she makes, she immediately mentioned that she didn’t need any money at this point in her life and she would like to donate it.”

Lisa said Kylee chose to donate all the money from the candle sales to the Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) Foundation.

She said Kylee has watched the powerful videos that SickKids shares showcasing the struggles children overcome there because of the wonderful work the hospital does.

“So, I think something about, you know, children her age going through adversity really got to her, she mentioned that, ‘it’s just not fair mom that young kids are having to deal with those issues,’ and not getting to maybe have the same life that she does,” Lisa said.

Lisa said the response from the community has been incredible, and so far, they’ve had over 250 candles ordered.

“We’ve had calls and emails from community members, from previous nurses at SickKids, to people who have been patients at SickKids just wanting to give their support to Kylee’s fundraiser,” Lisa said. “We’ve also had a local lavender farm from East Garafraxa reach out, and it’s called Hereward Farms, and they donated some supplies.”

Kylee is selling her 4 oz soy candles for $5 each and they come in a variety of scents such as vanilla, vanilla lavender, bergamot and a select number of Scottish heather.

She added that they are well on their way to raising over $1,000 for the charity.

To place a candle order, people can email kyleescandles@gmail.com.

Lisa Johnson, Kylee's mother: