When she first heard about the discovery of the remains of 215 children at the Kamloops Indian Residential School Shawnee Monchalin didn't know how to react.
Monchalin, who's Algonquin, Wendat and Metis, wasn't shocked by the news, but was still left uncertain and felt it opened up closed wounds in the Indigenous community.
"(The news) did really put me in a darker place. I didn't know how to react or engage with the information that was coming out and I didn't really know what I could do," says the Vancouver lawyer.
During the pandemic she's turned more to running to help deal with the mental and emotional drain, noting it helps her feel more like the person she wants to be. She decided to once again incorporate it in her response.
This time, though, she's decided to use it in a different way, creating a fundraiser with her partner Devin Gunenc around their runs, as well as an event to engage other people.
"We put that healing journey for me, which was running, and fundraising together," she tells Vancouver Is Awesome, noting the money raised will go to the Indian Residential School Survivors Society.
One aspect of the fundraiser is for them to run 215 km by July 1; it's a tall order she says. The most she's run in one month previously is 130 km.
"This 215 is quite hard for me but I'm en route to it," she says. "We came up with the number to represent the children, to honour and respect them."
At the same time, she's encouraging people to join her around 7:45 a.m. on Sunday, June 20 for a 21.5 km run (just slightly longer than a half-marathon) along the Seawall from Science World to Stanley Park and back. So far people are planning to run, walk and rollerblade; she's not too worried about how people complete the route but does encourage anyone who wants to join in to wear an orange t-shirt.
Through that run, scheduled for the day before National Indigenous People’s Day, Monchalin hopes to help increase awareness and education.
"I wanted to create an event where people could do it together and then also have a discussion about why we're here and doing it," she says.
They weren't sure how successful the fundraiser would be and set it at $5,000 as more of an aspirational goal, but to Monchalin's surprise they hit $3,000 within 12 hours of launching it.
"I think we can easily exceed it at this point, but I was so surprised at first," she says. At the time of publication the fundraiser was at $4,600.
While she's glad she's able to help, she wants the focus to remain on the community, she adds.
"I really just want to do what I can," she says. "And at the end of the day it's really just about the Indigenous community."
For immediate assistance to those who may need it, the National Indian Residential School Crisis Line is available 24 hours a day at 1-866-925-4419.
