The family of a three-year-old Ontario boy who was swept away in a flooded river six weeks ago is thanking the volunteers who have been searching for the missing toddler with a special Easter dinner.
Kaden Young was swept from his mother’s arms on Feb. 21, when the two were trying to escape their minivan in the flooded Grand River near the town of Grand Valley.
Hundreds of volunteers took time out of their Easter weekend to help with the search and about 20 have been out every day for six weeks to try and locate Kaden.
“I've been out here eight times. It feels like we've accomplished very little because there's so many areas that anything could be hiding,” Robert Widdup, one of the volunteers, told CTV Kitchener.
On Sunday, as a token of their appreciation for the ongoing search efforts, the Young family cooked up an Easter feast for the volunteers, complete with turkey and all the fixings.
“I would like to say with their permission and on their behalf just how grateful and thankful they are for everybody who comes out,” said Lorna Brice, a volunteer and spokesperson for the family.
Despite the slow progress, many volunteers don’t plan on quitting until they find the boy.
“It's Easter and my kids are home and somebody else's kids aren't,” said Shawn Crockatt, one of the volunteers.
A Facebook group with more than 17,500 members provides updates on the search.
With a report from CTV Kitchener’s Heather Senoran
