In Loving Memory of Mary Jeanetta "Nita" Warren
Feb. 23, 1943 - Sept.2, 2009
18 years of Dedicated Volunteer Service to Children's Wish
Nita Warren was living in Yellowknife when she first joined Children's Wish in 1991, and was a very active member of the Foundation’s volunteer team until she moved to Portage La Prairie in 1994. Once her family was settled in Portage La Prairie, she met up with Heather Christopherson and Aileen Roy. They had started up a local Children’s Wish Sub Chapter and invited Nita to join. She gladly accepted, and came on board with many great fundraising ideas that came from her time in Yellowknife.
Nita was a very warm, loving and giving person, and she was always doing nice things for other people. She was always so welcoming to new volunteers and made everyone feel included from their first meeting or opportunity with Children’s Wish. Those who worked with Nita say she is the type of person one likes instantly, and that she makes everyone feel comfortable from the moment they step in the door. She loved to Live, Love and Laugh.
Nita was always trying to find new ways to raise money for Children's Wish. No matter what was happening in her own life or within the community she always said "We do this for the kids"! She was so thankful that her family's lives had not been touched with any serious illnesses: she truly recognized how lucky she was to have a healthy family and because of that, she truly believed in supporting Children’s Wish.
Nita’s belief in our cause was not something she kept to herself, and she was always trying to recruit new members for the Portage la Prairie Sub Chapter. Her son Tim and his family, who live in Winnipeg, are keeping her legacy of love alive by doing fundraising in her memory.
One of Nita’s favourite stories to tell was that of wish child Dustin and his famous John Deere Tractor ride from Portage to Austin to raise money for sick children. Nita and Dustin were very fond of one another and Nita was able to arrange a special tractor ride for him on a vintage John Deere tractor in his own backyard. Dustin talked about that experience for years afterwards. That is just one example of how Nita went above and beyond her responsibilities.
We are glad to see Nita’s legacy living on in Portage la Prairie through the wonderful work of the volunteers that run the sub chapter, many of whom are there thanks to Nita’s hard work. Nita was truly a light in the lives of so many, whether it be the wish children and their families, or those she worked with. She is greatly missed.
- Brenda and her fellow volunteers at the Portage la Prairie Sub Chapter of the Children’s Wish Foundation
