The next time you see a sunflower, think about little Max Rombouts. Max, you see, is the inspiration behind a fabulous fundraising effort in Lambton County with the money raised going to help families affected by childhood cancer. “Max was born in May of 2017 and he was diagnosed with ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia),” says Max’s mother, Jamie Rombouts. “He went into remission and then relapsed. He had a bone marrow transplant and that didn’t work and we were given the news no parent ever wants to hear that our child was not going to survive.”

Prior to Max’s passing, a family friend – Brian Schoonjans – decided he wanted to plant a field of sunflowers to honour Max. His idea was to let Max and his dad, Kevin, ride a tractor through the chosen field and plant the seeds. However, in the spring of 2019, it rained and rained and rained. “It was one of the wettest years in history across Ontario,” Brian says. Brian decided to put it off for a year, thinking that Max was doing well, but things took a turn and Max passed away. “After Max passed, I decided we had to do it,” Brian says. “The family came to the farm and I said, ‘Go plant your son’s legacy and we’ll see what happens.’ I went out four days later and they were popping up in rows. It was like a miracle.”

That’s when Miracle Max’s Minions was formed. Families from all over Lambton County came to see the sunflowers and made financial donations. In three weeks they raised $65,000. The following year they raised $142,000. “Max had this perfect, round bubbly smiling face and it reminded Brian of minions,” Jamie says. “That is how we came up with Miracle Max’s Minions. Minions are yellow and so are sunflowers.” They started with sunflowers in one field and it has grown to four fields with other farms paying tribute to Max.

The funds they raised have been spread to a variety of charities that support families coping with childhood cancer. “Everyone has to get paid at the end of the day, so we have given a large chunk of it to an organization called Childcan in London,” Jamie says. “They directly deal with families going through childhood cancer. One of the biggest things they helped us through was, we never had to pay for parking at the hospital. They took care of it all. When Max was born, we were in the hospital for five months. Can you imagine what my parking bill would have been? They also gave us food vouchers for the hospital cafeteria.” The Rombouts also donate to the Teresina Larizza Charity Foundation in London as well as Ronald McDonald House.Jamie says Miracle Max’s Minions has helped her family survive their son’s passing. “Max was a big bubble of joy,” Jamie says. “Even on the days he felt the worst, he could put a smile on your face. He was a true inspiration to me, Kevin, and his brothers, Zac and Hudson.”

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