Lauren Amanda CHISHOLM

1985 - 2020

LAUREN AMANDA CHISHOLM March 22, 1985 - May 2, 2020 Lauren was taken from us after a 5-year battle with metastatic breast cancer on May 2, 2020. There are no words to express the pain, loss and sorrow we feel. Lauren was the second child of George and Sonia Chisholm, the sister of Barbara Chisholm and her husband Marco Abreu, the aunt to Emma Abreu, the wife of Shaun Wilkes, and the mother to our dog Brisket. Lauren received her B.Sc. in Political Science from Northeastern University in Boston Massachusetts, where she met her husband Shaun and continued to develop her passion for helping the less fortunate. Before her first year at university, Lauren installed water systems in Haiti, bringing running water to orphanages there and shaping the kind, compassionate, selfless woman she would become. Lauren's charitable work continued in Toronto after university as an instrumental part of June's Eatery in 2017, which was the first HIV positive pop up restaurant in the world. June's Eatery started off as a work event for her job as a catering and events manager, but quickly transformed into something much more. Lauren quickly formed meaningful relationships with many of the HIV positive chefs, and it is fair to say they both impacted each other in special ways in the years that followed. June's Eatery was put on by Casey House and led to Lauren becoming more involved with them in the years that followed, including her participating in the pride parade with them. Working with a charity for a restaurant pop up was no accident, Lauren loved food, fashion and hospitality, which would not be a surprise if you knew Lauren. The hospitality industry is built around making people feel good, something Lauren loved to do both at work and at home. Lauren had many friends she cared deeply about; they were her source of inspiration along with her family of aunts, uncles, and cousins. Lauren always said my friends are my family, and truly they were as they helped her every step of the way before, during and in a way after her battle with cancer when they moved on to help her family during this impossible time. Lauren was our ray of sunshine, and she will be missed for the rest of our lives. Her impact on those around her will live on through them, as everyone Lauren touched became a better version of themselves. In the spirit of improving the lives of those around us, we would like to ask for donations to one of Lauren's favorite charities below in lieu of flowers. Lauren's wishes were for a large celebration of life to follow her death but given the current situation and limitations on gatherings we plan on waiting until those limitations are lifted before holding that celebration. Finally, we would like to thank all of those who helped her at Princess Margaret Hospital, where she was wonderfully taken care of from the first moments of her diagnosis until her last breaths there in the palliative care unit, and every moment in between. The doctors, nurses and support staff there that made a meaningful impact on her treatment and care are too numerous to list, they always treated her as a person and not a number and for that we will forever be thankful. Rethink Breast Cancer - www.rethinkbreastcancer.com, Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation - www.thepmcf.ca/Home, Casey House - www.caseyhouse.com.