reStart-ing your life with Andrea Bucknor

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

No matter how far you’ve gone down the wrong road it’s never too late to turn back- Turkish proverb

There is a difference when you believe in yourself and when others believe in you, the difference this makes is substantial. If you don’t believe this, just ask Andrea Bucknor, or warmly known as Auntie Andrea, a mother, a volunteer, a lover and the driving force behind reStart Charity.

Before you understand the concept of reStart, it’s important to rewind a little bit, to the warm island of Jamaica, it was 1989 and Bucknor was only a young woman in her twenties, living in Kingston however when opportunity called, she took a risk and moved to Toronto, Canada. Staying with a close relative, Bucknor found herself in a new environment and in a new life, from living in sac=Scarborough to Etobicoke, Bucknor started to build the life she wanted for herself, working odd jobs and falling in love. Eventually, life was on track; Bucknor got married and was soon pregnant with her first child, a boy. However, life is as unpredictable as the seas and Bucknor found herself as a single mother even before the birth of the child. The impact of being a single mother, working jobs and finding a balance was something Bucknor always thrived to achieve.

As a self-described go-getter, Bucknor used her inquisitive nature to learn about many things in her city, she was a natural born volunteer, using her warm nature and her heart to help others. By the time Bucknor’s son was in high school however he started to experience many challenges and Bucknor found herself in a position where she felt she was not in control. Bucknor had eventually remarried, but through sickness and in health Bucknor soon found herself balancing the act of raising her teenage son and taking care of her husband who was severely sick at the time. “I was going through the challenge of my husband being sick and my son trying to figure out who he is without his dad and a sick step-dad.”

Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before Bucknor’s son at around the age of 16 started going down the wrong path and ended up at the Justice Court in Brampton. This lit a fire within Bucknor, and she realized the importance of strength, being there for others and believing in others. Bucknor found herself in court by her son’s side and realized the internal strength it takes for parents to be strong and fight against feelings of hopelessness if their kids were to get lost in the system.

This incident led Bucknor to start volunteering at the justice court and interacting with youth that somehow found themselves in tough situations. It didn’t matter what you looked like and it didn’t matter what you’ve done sometimes all you need is a hug and a few kind words. Bucknor became really invested in helping families at the courthouse. She connected with a local law firm, to gain more information and found ways to connect families with legal aid. Bucknor also stressed the importance of the parents or caregivers being involved in their child’s life while they deal with tough issues and not just leaving this to the justice system and legal aid. Every Tuesday for years on end Bucknor could be found at the courthouse. Eventually, Bucknor connected with a mentor, professor Charles Simon, who helped her come up with the concept of reStart Charity. In the end, Bucknor really started to see a vision that began to grow. reStart had the perfect tag line. Restart your life for a better future, because it’s never too late.

Over the many years, Bucknor has come across many troubled youth and many families that she hopes she has left a lasting impact on. This extended into her community of Brampton and her local church family. There was never anyone that can do wrong and she even saw this in the own church environment how some youth could be judged and scorned upon because of their actions but Bucknor always asked the question, if I’m not there for them and their families are not there for them, who will be there for them?

“When you sum up everything to see why I do these things, it’s just a four-letter word—love, it’s just the love I have for my son, and that same love I have for my son extends to the other youth, even at my church. I am always there because of love and if you really look at love, love is patient, love is kind and love keeps no record of wrong.”

For more than 11 years Bucknor was invested in the act of volunteering and showing love in her community but it was only until last April that reStart became an official registered charity. Bucknor is now at the stage where she is developing a team of other community volunteers and other resources to help connect those in need as well as sourcing a physical location for her charity where she can plan even more community events and continue spreading the love. For more information contact andreabucknor@restartcharity.org and always look out for Auntie Andrea.