Members of Random Acts of Costuming visiting Kelowna General Hospital.
Image Credit: FACEBOOK - Random Acts of Costuming
November 27, 2023 - 7:00 PM
A group in Kelowna has been using cosplay to try to make the world a better place.
Random Acts of Costuming is a non-profit group whose members dress-up in character costumes to raise funds for kids in Kelowna General Hospital and distract people from their problems for a little while.
The group visits kids in the hospital, does fundraising events, attends conventions and other random acts in an effort to brighten people’s day.
“Random Acts of Costuming is about providing joy to anybody who’s watching,” Sarah Tonin, a member of the group, said. “There’s nothing like watching a little child get excited when they see their favourite character. Not even just a young child, but the child in all of us.”
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The group began when founder Scott Burke lost a family member to a rare type of brainstem cancer called diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma or DIPG.
“My granddaughter years ago went to the hospital and passed away and I wanted to do some promo for what the cause of her death was,” Burke said. “ There's no cure, there's no hope there’s nothing the doctors could do for her.
“I went to the hospital to thank the staff and it just turned into this group called Random Acts of Costuming.”
Tonin was working at the hospital at the time and wanted to help Burke bring some hope and some distraction for people.
“Scott’s been our fearless leader,” she said.
“He was so disheartened that there was not that much joy that could be brought by the staff and everybody because it is such a sombre affair. You are going through this shitty situation watching somebody get sicker and sicker and then they pass,” she said.
The group of 15 gets together to dress-up in costume to visit the hospital and collect toys for sick kids.
“There is a little bit of joy that can be brought by a smiling face or friendly person, a distraction,” Tonin said.
Some members participated in a fundraiser in September where they dressed up as superheroes and rappelled 23 stories down the Landmark 7 Office Tower in Kelowna.
Since the pandemic, the group has been restricted on how often and easily they can visit the hospital.
“Ever since COVID it’s been almost impossible to get back in the hospital. We used to walk around all of the wards but that’s just not something they are allowing at the moment,” Tonin said.
“We raise money to take toys to the hospital. We had someone donate a Nintendo Switch that went to the hospital. We were trying to upgrade their games and things. At one point we had so many toys that we had to go to Vernon to drop them off and we still had so many toys.”
Tonin has been a cosplayer since 2014 and enjoys the randomness of the group. She likes dressing up for everyday activities to hopefully put a smile on a stranger’s face.
“Sometimes I’ll just put on a costume and walk around the mall or something just to see people’s faces. Sometimes I’ve gone grocery shopping in an outfit and people will say ‘oh I like your cape’ and I’ll say 'thank you.' It’s just a fun thing to do,” she said.
The group has also gotten dressed up to just walk around.
“We have gone downtown and wandered around and created awareness for it,” she said.
Tonin says the group can always use more cosplayers and invites anyone interested to reach out, dress up, and get involved.
“Life is not full of happiness. Life is full of yin and yang. There is happiness and sadness, but to have a better experience when you are in the hospital is always what we strive to do,” she said.
Keep up with the latest on Random Acts of Costuming's Facebook page.
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