'He always wanted to help': Author honours late nephew with donation to SOYA

A local children’s author recently put her craft to work in honour of her late nephew – and to raise funds for an important local non-profit. 

This winter, Jennifer Barone pledged $10 from each sale of her books, Goose on a Roof and Snowflake Snowflake, to raise money for Save Our Young Adults (SOYA), a local non-profit that provides support for young people looking to access addictions treatment.

Barone’s initiative began on Feb. 25, which would have been her nephew Gregory Polnick’s 22nd birthday, and it ran for 22 days in his memory – ultimately raising $610 for SOYA.

“The reason I chose SOYA is because Greg suffered from mental health and drug addiction, and I know SOYA plays a big role in helping people who suffer,” Barone told SooToday.

“When he was alive, he always wanted to help. He would always go to SOYA, him and his parents, and they helped people over there.”

Barone said Polnick related with others who attended SOYA, as he was “going through what they were going through,” and always looked for ways he could help – even in the face of his own challenges.

“He was just always a big advocate for helping people with mental health, so I wanted to do this in his memory,” Barone said.

“While he was even battling his own problems, he always still wanted to lend a helping hand to someone, or a kind word. That was just the kind of demeanour he had. He was a very kind, bright, intelligent person.”

Barone said the campaign, which she ran over social media, more than doubled her financial goal.

“I was so overwhelmed with how many people from the community reached out to me and messaged me and wanted to buy books,” she said. “I was not expecting to raise this much, but I'm so thankful that I was able to raise that.”

She stressed the campaign was much more about honouring her nephew and helping SOYA than it was about selling books, and encouraged the broader community to donate to SOYA, as well.

“This is about SOYA, this is about Greg. I want his memory honoured, and I want people to know that for years to come, that he was just an amazing person. He was always so kind and sweet and gentle,” she said.

“It's amazing what somebody could be going through, but you would never even know just by looking at them.”

SOYA’s founder, Connie Raynor-Elliot, agreed that Polnick was an incredible person.

“Greg was one of the most amazing young adults and his heart for helping others continues through his family and friends,” she said.

She also thanked Barone for her efforts putting together the campaign.

“Jen is an amazing person and her books are amazing.  Her love for Greg shines through in every way and the campaign was very successful,” she said.

Those interested can learn more about SOYA on the non-profit's website.