Healing & Memorial Trip to Europe

Hello everyone!

My name is Mary-Elizabeth, I am trying to raise $1,500.00 to go to Europe, for an acceptance/healing trip in memory of my late mom.

My mom and I were planning on going to Europe this summer (2015) with stops in Belgium to see the Ghent Altarpiece (click here to learn more about the Altarpiece), Bruges a wonderful city which it's city center is a prominent World Heritage Site protected by UNESCO and cruise it's lovely canels with a stop in Ypres to pay respect to the soldiers that lost their lives during WW1 and to see where her uncle was stationed during WW1. We had then planned to go to France for a few days and experience Paris, and the surrounding countryside with trip down to Lyon and then on to Monaco for a night. Our plans then would then take us up to Scotland were we had planned to hike up in the highlands, then finish in London

Why should you donate to this trip?

This past August my mom Mary McCarroll passed away (on my birthday) from complications due to gull stones, bought on by an un-diagnosed auto-immune disorder. My mom’s passing was sudden and very traumatic, as she had never been sick a day in her life before this. My mom and I were in the middle of planning this trip to Europe when she suddenly passed. We had planned to go to Belgium with stops in Brussels, Burges, Ghent and Ypres, Belgium; Paris and Verdun, France; Belfast and Dublin Ireland. We would then finish in England on Brownsea Island to see where the Scouting Organization started and where the first Gilwell Camp was held.

I feel by going on this trip that my mom and I were so looking forward to, will not only finish what we started but it will allow me to start the healing process knowing that I followed through with our plans.

Who was Mary McCarroll?:

Not only was Mary my mom but she was/is my best friend; she was my dads soul mate and love of this life. Mary had a big heart and never spoke an unkind word toward anyone. Family and God always came first for her but she always made time for her friends and strangers who needed comfort, guidance or a shoulder to cry on. Mary was a Scouter at large and was currently in her 50th year of Scouts Canada, she loved working with the youth and loved training new leaders who will go on to help shape the minds of today’s youth and tomorrows leaders.

Don’t just take my word for it, here are just a few quotes from the people that had the chance to know my mom.

" Mary was always super kind to me. She would always stop to take a minute to chat even when she was going somewhere" - Rebecca Mainprize-Shelley, former resident of Dundalk

"Mary was a great influence in my young life, she was a fun cub/scout leader which made being in scouts lots of fun. Mary was a special and hard working women who will be missed" - James Russell - former Boy Scout.

"When I think of Mary I think of an image of a light house and it’s beacon; with Mary being both steady & stable rock in a storm that the light house represents and the guiding path that the beacon provides to all who come into her coverage.......Mary was a super-transport in a spitfire body, she was a person who could work in any environment with any personality, taking on any task that was asked of her" - Gary Glassford, Former District Commissioner of Dufferin Scouts, Scout leader and close friend

"My memory of Mary is when she came into the grocery store to do her shopping. She was always smiling and laughing. Mary would always make me laugh and smile when she came into the store." - Amanda Stinson, Grocery Clerk Dundalk Foodland

"Mary was a wonderful women who was full of life, she loved her family and was a proud grandma to three wonderful girls. Mary had such a special bond with her daughter, and they loved to talk about where their next travel adventure would take them. Mary wouldn’t let anything stop her from doing what she loved. She was truly an angel on earth and she will be greatly missed." Emmy Reid

Please note: For any donation received I will send you a post card from every city/town that I visit

UPDATE: Due to time restrictions I will no longer be visiting Paris or Verdun France.