Woman using her family tragedy to raise awareness about Indigenous resilience
At 38 years old, Fallon Farinacci is the oldest living member of her immediate family.
“Both my parents were murdered when I was nine years old and my older brother committed suicide when he was 29,” she said during an interview with CTV Morning Live on Thursday.
“So I wanted to start this fundraiser, because I am officially the oldest living member of my family. Today is the date that I surpassed my father’s age when he passed away.”
Farinacci’s parents, Sherry and Maurice Paul were murdered in St. Eustache, Man., in 1993 at the ages of 36 and 37. She was nine years old at the time of their deaths. Her brother died by suicide in 2004.
Farinacci, a child survivor of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG), said she wants to give back to Indigenous women and youth -- which is why she started the ‘Celebrate Indigenous Resilience – Thirty-Eight’ fundraiser.
“Myself, being displaced from my community, it was really important for me to give back and to inspire Metis youth to reclaim their identity and to stand strong in who they are,” she said.
Farinacci originally set out to raise $3,800, but as of Thursday afternoon has received more than $90,000 in donations.
She said her goal now is to raise $114,000 with the money going to the Abbey House Transitional Home for Indigenous women in the Niagara, Ont., region, and the Manitoba Metis Federation, St. Eustache Local.
“I want people to know we’re still here, and there’s so much beauty in Indigenous cultures and heritage,” Farinacci said.
“I simply wanted to raise awareness and also show the beautiful side of Indigenous cultures while doing so as well.”
She noted that at one time her father, a proud Metis man, was the president of the St. Eustache Local.
“So for me to reclaim my Metis heritage and to stand proud is an honour to do that for him, but also to reclaim it for my children,” Farinacci said.
“I want them to know who they are and grow up to be very proud of who they are and all the ancestors that came before them.”
Donations to Farinacci’s fundraiser can be made online. https://www.gofundme.com/f/Celebrate-Indigenous-Resilience
- With files from CTV’s Michael Hutchinson.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
For more than two decades, the unknown victim was nicknamed "Midtown Jane Doe" because she was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City. But this week, investigators finally revealed her identity.