Lynne MacDonald inspired to make her Champions for Charity vision come true for MacKids
By Jeff Hicks
WATERLOO—
Lynne MacDonald, fists up and chin down, stood in the boxing ring by herself and searched for an opponent who wasn’t there.
Bright light cascaded down and engulfed her.
The surrounding crowd below, a cheering mass of black ties and flowing gowns, rose up like the humpback whales she saw breaching off the west coast while growing up on Vancouver Island.
Then, something startling happened.
She woke up from her Fight Night dream.
“I think that’s a sign I should do this,” said MacDonald, a local real estate agent who had been pondering signing up for Mandy Bujold’s Champions for Charity to raise money for MacKids.
“I got up in the morning and filled out the application.”
Now, she’s one of 20 community leaders training to step into the boxing ring for real to raise money for McMaster Children’s Hospital Foundation. A year ago, MacDonald hosted a watch party for real estate colleague Jen Ziegler’s Champions for Charity bout. 
Today, she’s inspired by the dream that prompted her to sign up for the April 24 Brawl at Tapestry Hall and the vision to help kids and families in need of top-tier health care.
At 56, she will be the, uh, most-wizened female fighter to lace up the gloves in four editions of Champions for Charity spectacles, which have raised nearly $2-million for MacKids.
MacDonald, who has embraced three months of gruelling training as a member of the Blue Team, is okay with that.
“I still feel like I’m 30 but my body tells me otherwise sometimes,” she said.
“Maybe I’ll inspire someone else, some other female in their 50’s, to go out and do something that’s hard. It’s definitely one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.”
As hard as coming east to study business at Laurier.
As physically demanding as raising her two grown kids, sales-guy Matt and the quiet-and-focussed Missy.
As daunting as helping her husband Sandy, a standup guy for years, run the Rusty Nail Comedy Club in the rum-running catacombs of the old Walper Hotel in downtown Kitchener.
“His dream was to open up a comedy club,” she said.
Again with the dreams you make reality.
Boxing can be brutal. You can get punched in the face.
But comedy is ruthless. There is no opponent but you can still die up there.
“I help out on weekends but I certainly do NOT get on stage,” she said.
“It’s his baby. It’s a lot of fun. It’s more interesting than real estate.”
But there will be no punchlines on April 24. Just punches.
“I love everything about boxing. I like the workout. I love the team,” she said.
“It’s going to be pretty sad when it’s over.”
All dreams, in or out of the ring, come to an end.
To support Lynne, click here.
Thank you to our Champions Spotlight Sponsor TD Bank. TD sees the challenges women-owned and woman-led businesses face – but we also see, and can help you seize, the opportunities. That’s why we’ve built a Canada-wide team of Women in Enterprise bankers to provide you with the banking advice, tools, and resources to help you confidently build your business. Learn more. Don’t hesitate to reach out to Julie Dimitri, National Manager, Women in Enterprise.
