Spring was a horrible time for Kristen Grimstad, a newcomer to Innisfail who recently moved to town from Red Deer with his wife and four children to escape the frenzied energy of city living.
On April 5, his home was devastated by fire, destroying everything the family owned on the main floor.
Grimstad did not know what to do. A friend said there was a young woman at the Fox and Hound Sports Club who could help.
Three months later almost $3,500 was raised to help the Grimstad family. Grimstad is one of many locals graced by the young woman's loving hand; a gentle touch committed to helping the lives of Innisfailians without any expectation for reward or recognition.
Kristen Spatz is that young woman.
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From page 1 Angel
“She has a heart of gold. She has to be the most thoughtful and giving person I have ever come across,” said Grimstad. “I was absolutely floored that anybody even showed any kind of compassion or even cared. She takes a stand for the little people.”
Spatz is 26 years old. She has lived in Innisfail all her life, overcoming a challenged upbringing that saw her raised by grandparents.
When they passed away within seven months of each other in 2004 and 2005, Spatz was alone to fend for herself at the age of 18. But a friend convinced Rob Gette, owner of both the Fox and Hound and Mulligan's Pizza, to give her a chance when no one else would.
“She showed up on my doorstep. It was a win-win for both of us because she hadn't had the best of backgrounds and a lot of people wouldn't have given her a job,” said Gette, whose businesses have been the sites for many of Spatz's fundraisers over the past six years. “It is now easy for her, all of it to help people and not for her own personal gain. She has never asked for accolades.”
Spatz has raised more than $35,000 over the past several years for folks devastated by loss or tragedy. Every holiday season she organizes a fundraiser for the Christmas Bureau, a non-profit organization that helps children and families in need during the festive time of year.
Time after time when a local family faces hardship and needs a helping hand, Spatz has stepped up to make herself immediately available. When 23-year-old Victoria Shachtay was killed in a local bombing in 2011, Spatz put the wheels in motion to raise thousands of dollars for the devastated family. She did the same for the family of five-year-old Brooke Aubuchon, raising thousands to send the child to New York City for life-saving surgery to arrest Batten disease. And she was there once more to organize a fundraising Christmas party for Ken Wright when he lost his leg last year in an oilfield site accident.
“She just seems to always step up for all the people who really need it the most in the community,” said Marci Bishop, a single mother who tragically lost her three-month-old son Kaden to SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) in 2010.
“She always finds out about everything, even before half the town knows what is going on. It seems she already has a fundraiser set up for it before anyone knows what is happening.
“Kristen is a single mom too and I don't know how she finds time to do anything with her own children, plus so much for the community and work constantly on top of that,” she said, adding Spatz stepped up in 2010 to organize a fundraiser for her that yielded more than $6,000 to cover funeral and family expenses. “She is definitely an angel. She's an angel in my eyes.”
Spatz is clearly uncomfortable talking about many things about her life. She had a rough early go in her younger years but refuses to allow any of it to define her. The young woman is just grateful for the life she has today: two young children, her many friends, and the mentorship and support she always receives from Gette.
“The first few fundraisers I always had to ask him. Now he knows that no matter what, I am going to do it,” said Spatz. “He lets me do whatever I want since he knows it is going to be a decent turnout. He is a pretty easygoing boss. He has helped me a lot, and I do mean a lot.”
When Spatz is asked what motivates her to spend countless hours planning and organizing fundraisers for the community's needy, Spatz is equally uncomfortable about any spotlight put on her.
“I don't know. I hate seeing troubled people,” she says, her voice trailing off to almost a whisper. “The thing that gets to me the most is seeing the families. I am doing this stuff and they give me a hug, and say thank you.”
For eight years now, the Fox and Hound has been Spatz's home base for her life and work for the town's needy. Outside her work, she is a committed single mother. She has a passion for slo-pitch, which also serves to be yet another vehicle for her fundraising. But what does the future hold for this young woman?
“If she didn't have kids I would be pushing her to go to college,” said Gette. “Maybe down the road she will. Something along that line I would hope is in her future.”
Spatz has already finished one online child psychology course and is working on another for adults, but beyond that there is uncertainty, except there will always be a need for the next unfortunate soul in Innisfail who needs a loving hand up at a desperate time when all appears lost.
“She is amazing at what she does,” said Robin Brand, the mother of Brooke Aubuchon, who is not surprised that Spatz never seeks attention or any type of reward for her remarkable good deeds.
“I think a story should be done on her for everything she has done for the many families in this town,” said Brand.
