By: Evan Mathias , Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Tilbury Times Reporter
The Fight Like Mason Foundation had another resounding success as Paper Heroes Comic Book Lounge held their 8th annual Free Comic Book Day fundraiser last month.
The event, which started in 2017 started as a small BBQ and was one of the first fundraisers that FLM (Fight Like Mason) was a part of when they became an organization.
“Scott from Paper Heroes reached out… he wanted to incorporate a charity into their Free Comic Book Day. It’s something that hadn’t really been done,” said FLM Founder Iain Macri. “It started off with a little BBQ. We did some interacting with the public and made it a fun event. That continued year over year and as our charity has grown as well, the event has grown and it has become a staple.”
While the fundraiser started out small, it has consistently grown over the years and this installment of the event was the most successful to date, with Paper Heroes raising over $4,500 for the Foundation.
“Just in terms of numbers I think Scott was able to raise around $1,000 that first year and now this year raising over $4500,” said Macri. “Collectively over the years we’re flirting with, or just over $20,000 for our Foundation. It’s kind of a testament to the community coming together for a fun cause. It’s an opportunity to showcase the generosity of the community.”
The day starts early, with Macri and a number of volunteers setting up their FLM tents and merchandising tables for the community to be able to support the foundation. Everyone gets geared up in their super-hero uniforms and then it’s showtime with doors at Paper Heroes opening around 10 a.m.
“Everyone who is in attendance gets three free comic books and Scott does a lot of massive sales in the store for his regular merchandise and books. He also puts on a raffle for us as well as a community BBQ. One hundred per cent of those donations come back to the FLM Foundation,” said Macri.
With the event annually running for so long, Macri has seen many of the same people out supporting the cause.
“We had a great turnout and it’s kind of cool. I recognize a lot of the same faces year over year that come out,” said Macri. “Some kids have grown – they were four when they first came out and now they’re 11 or 12 and they’re still dressing up and getting their comic books and enjoying all the pop culture favourite characters.”
FLM prides itself on holding fun, positive events as fundraisers, bringing light to a normally sensitive and taboo conversation.
“That’s kind of what we do for everything with Fight Like Mason, we change it from a tragedy into something heroic. Everything we do is to showcase the empowerment that we’re doing as a charity. It’s all about empowering the kids and empowering the family and giving them something to rally behind,” said Macri. “That’s the key for us… communicating the need in a positive and powerful way, to make it not taboo – no one wants to talk about childhood cancer, its an awful topic for anyone. If you can do it in a positive way that inspires or educates someone, that’s what our mission was to do, to change it from something taboo to something that’s OK to talk about.”
Next up is their biggest event of the year, the FLM Classic charity golf tournament on July 12. Registration is still open. For more information or for opportunities to get engaged, visit www.fightlikemason.org
