Lezley Wright was a miracle for so many people.
The Coldstream founder of the non-profit The Miracle Bucket Society is being fondly remembered after she lost a battle with cancer and died Dec. 7 at age 57.
“Her heart was big. She was an angel in life and beyond,” said Sharon Durant, retired from the Vernon branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association, one of the organizations helped by the society.
A native of Tisdale, Sask., Wright graduated high school in Armstrong and moved to the Vernon area where she opened up a hair salon which she named Miracles and Hair Design.
She formed her society in 2011 and raised money through its signature event, the Power of the Purse fundraiser, to help families in need as referred by the Vernon Women’s Transition House Society, CMHA and the Vernon Jubilee Hospital Foundation.
“Lezley was a special soul,” said Debby Hamilton, former executive director with the transition house. “She made hundreds of women and their children feel better about themselves by giving them a lovely hairstyle at no cost, and more.”
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In a 2018 interview with The Morning Star, Wright said she found herself praying for a miracle seven years ago, and dedicated herself to making ‘miracles’ happen for others through Power of the Purse.
The annual gala event has high-end handbags from designers like Louis Vuitton, Michael Kors and Kate Spade filled with luxury items and gift cards donated by local businesses and community members which are then auctioned off in support of local families in need.
“We help people who are falling through the cracks,” said Wright.
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She created the Miracle Bucket Society when she was going through a really bad time in her life, had a really bad attitude and “I had taken my problems and made them so large that I had lost focus.”
Wright said, out of desperation, she placed a mosaic vase on a pillar in the middle of her salon and called it the ‘miracle bucket.’ She asked clients to ‘drop a buck in the bucket’ and a scrap of paper with their name on it. At the end of the month, Wright would draw a name and that person would choose a family they knew needed help and donate the bucket proceeds to that family.
Wright is survived by her parents, one daughter, one grandson, one sister and many other family members and friends.
A Celebration Of Lezley’s Life will be held at Bethel Funeral Chapel on Monday, Dec. 16 at 1 p.m. A reception will follow in the Bethel Tea Room.
As an expression of sympathy, those who wish to do so may send donations in Lezley’s memory to themiraclebucketsociety.com.
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roger@vernonmorningstar.com
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