GoFundMe supports Thunderchild’s cancer care costs

A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to support former Canupawakpa Dakota Nation chief Lola Thunderchild, who is currently receiving palliative care in Virden while battling terminal cancer.

Trevor Hayhurst, who started the fundraiser, said he created it after seeing the financial strain on Thunderchild and her family during her illness.

“I started the fundraiser because I recognized she was fighting a battle against cancer,” he said. “She’s not working, and nobody in her family was really working … so I wanted to make sure that they could cover just daily expenses and bills and repairs on her truck, etc.”

Hayhurst said the campaign aims to ease the everyday pressures that come with long hospital stays and travel for treatment.

“We were hoping to raise around $10,000 to $15,000 just to cover it,” he said. “I think we’re right about halfway there already.”

He said that the fundraiser has been active for only a few weeks. “I think it’s been up for three weeks … maybe a month, but not that long,” he said.

Hayhurst said he first met Thunderchild in 2016 while working in Canupawakpa Dakota Nation near Pipestone, Manitoba, where she was working in education and youth support.

“Lola was a counsellor at the junior high, and I was working with kids,” he said. “She was working with kids.”

He said their connection grew through years of community work, including mental wellness and youth support initiatives. “We worked together really closely,” he said.

Hayhurst said Thunderchild later became chief of the community and remained deeply involved in supporting families and youth programming. “She lived her whole life, I think, trying to share her Dakota traditions … her culture with people,” he said.

He described her as a steady presence in the community. “She’s very community-oriented … She is in some ways the glue that holds everything together,” he said.

He said that she supported parenting programs and early childhood education efforts. “She worked very hard with preschoolers and kindergarten kids … trying to help young moms get kids ready for school,” he said.

She has also sat on may boards and was involved in environmental and child welfare work, Hayhurst said.

He said the fundraiser is also meant to raise awareness about her current condition.

Thunderchild is currently receiving palliative care in Virden, although she may return home with proper medical support. Hayhurst said this would require equipment and home modifications, including a ramp, to ensure her safety.

He encouraged people to donate or share the fundraiser. “She’s given so much to all these organizations,” he said. “If people could give a little bit of funds back or prayers and well wishes … that would be great.”

Donations can be made through the GoFundMe page supporting Lola Thunderchild, and organizers are encouraging sharing the link widely on social media.

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