MitoCanada

Dinks for a Difference with YYC Pickleball

Serve, Rally and Make an Impact at Dinks for a Difference

Get ready to rally for a cause for a fun-filled community pickleball tournament at YYC Pickleball in support of MitoCanada. Whether you are new to the game or a seasoned competitor, this event brings together players of all skill levels for an exciting day of pickleball, connection and impact.

All proceeds help support Canadians living with mitochondrial disease through education, support, awareness and transformational research.

Event Details

📅 Saturday, July 25th, 2026 

🕚 8:00am – 4:00pm MST 

📍YYC PickleBall, 1108 53 Ave NE Units 100-102, Calgary, AB, T2E 6N9

🎟️ Registration Fee: $60

Divisions & Schedule

  • Beginner Division (2.0–2.99) – 8:00 AM – 10:30 AM Perfect for newer players looking for a fun and welcoming tournament experience – REGISTER HERE 
  • Intermediate Division (3.0–3.49) – 10:30 AM – 1:00 PM A balanced division for players with developing strategy and competitive play experience – REGISTER HERE
  • Advanced Division (3.5+) – 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM Fast-paced, high-energy competition for experienced players. Tournament structure may be adjusted depending on registration numbers – REGISTER HERE

Fundraise/Support Our Teams

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Content Use & Collaboration

Our Commitment to Stewardship

At MitoCanada, the stories, images, and resources we share are grounded in the lived experiences of individuals and families, and in collaboration with clinicians and researchers across Canada and beyond.

This content is shared with us through trust and partnership. We carry a responsibility to ensure it is used with care, respect, and integrity.

We are stewards of the content entrusted to us, whether it reflects a personal story, a research partnership, or an educational resource.

This means:

  • Respecting how stories and contributions are shared and represented
  • Ensuring individuals, families, and collaborators remain informed about how content is used
  • Protecting the context, voice, and intent behind each contribution
  • Upholding accuracy and integrity in research-informed content

This approach is central to how we honour the generosity and collaboration of our community and partners.

Scope of Content

This guidance applies to all MitoCanada content, including but not limited to:

  • Faces of Mito and other patient storytelling initiatives (e.g., 15 Stories for 15 Years)
  • MitoInsights and research translation content developed with researcher partners
  • Educational resources, guides, and infographics
  • Images, graphics, and digital assets shared across our platforms

Use of MitoCanada Content

All MitoCanada content is the property of MitoCanada and/or its contributors and collaborators and is protected by copyright.

Content may not be:

  • Reproduced, adapted, or modified without written permission from MitoCanada
  • Rebranded or presented as originating from another organization
  • Shared publicly without appropriate attribution and prior approval

Requesting Permission

We welcome opportunities to collaborate and amplify community voices and research in a way that is thoughtful and respectful.

If you are interested in sharing or using MitoCanada content, please contact us in advance. This allows us to:

  • Confirm consent with individuals and families, where applicable
  • Align with research partners on appropriate use and representation
  • Ensure content is shared accurately, respectfully, and in the right context

To start a conversation, please contact: communications@mitocanada.org

Our Approach to Collaboration

We believe collaboration strengthens awareness, education, and impact across the mitochondrial disease community.

Meaningful collaboration is built on:

  • Transparency and open communication
  • Respect for ownership, contribution, and consent
  • A shared commitment to centring patient and family voices
  • Integrity in representing research and lived experience

We are always open to working together in ways that align with these values.

A Note on Trust

Every story, insight, and resource shared through MitoCanada reflects a contribution from someone who has placed their trust in us.

Protecting that trust is not only a responsibility, it is a commitment we uphold in every partnership, every collaboration, and every piece of content we share.

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Mermaids for Mito

Make a Splash for Mitochondrial Disease

Join the mermaids of Oak Bay, BC for a friendly plunge to raise awareness and support for mitochondrial disease. The first annual Mermaids for Mito is a community-driven gathering where connection comes first. Whether you dip your toes in the water or simply enjoy the shoreline, everyone is welcome to come! Coffee and snacks will be provided, and an uplifting vibe with music and a bubble machine will keep you energized.

Event Details

📅 Saturday, May 23, 2026

🕚 11:00 AM

📍Beach at McMicking Park, off Radcliffe Lane, Oak Bay

  • Parking is limited, please consider biking or walking if possible
  • If driving: Park on Beach Drive or Newport and follow Hood Lane to Radcliffe Lane to the beach

🎟️ Event is free, donations are encouraged below in support of MitoCanada

👕 Show your support to those living with mitochondrial disease by wearing green. Don’t forget a towel! 

If you cannot join us, support our group by making a donation below! 

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Meet Alyson

Meet Alyson

My name is Alyson. I live in Red Deer, Alberta. I am fortunate to live in an adult condominium that arranges social activities that I can participate in to help keep me active. Our building’s backyard is an amazing, wooded area with paved pathways that enable me to be out in nature and be mobile as much as possible.

After many years of trying to determine the source of many symptoms I was experiencing, I was clinically diagnosed with mito in 2017, a year after my biological mom received her genetic diagnosis. I received a genetic confirmation in 2018. This disease has been inherited by multiple family members as well, and we all experience varying symptoms and are impacted differently.

MitoCanada has provided many resources for me to learn about mitochondrial disease, and it explains the information in simplified terms, so it is not confusing. I often provide links from the website to other patients who sometimes struggle to find accurate or easy-to-understand information.

I haven’t had many opportunities to complete in-person volunteering for MitoCanada, but I share the fundraising events and the knowledge posts that are submitted on the MitoCanada social media platforms. I also participate in the Peer2Peer Facebook group that MitoCanada has created for mito patients and families to connect with each other. I am an administrator on a few other mito-related Facebook groups as well.

My vision for MitoCanada is that it will become even more recognizable so that it can continue to provide support for the mitochondrial disease community in its many forms.

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Meet Louise

Meet Louise

Hi. I’m Louise, and I live in Mississauga, Ontario.

I love volunteering on Patient and Family Advisory Committees for Trillium Health Partners, running an annual charity event for MitoCanada, working on my coin collection, and doing aquafit. My faith, loving family and friends are all important to me. I feel blessed that my 2 adult children are unaffected by mito. They have all rallied around me, encouraging me, helping me, and picking me up on those low days. I have an amazing support system!

I am so overjoyed to have MitoCanada in my life for many reasons. I believe in the work they do to help raise awareness and funds for research and education. This organization understands what I’m going through and how hard life gets sometimes. I have a personal connection with quite a few members of the board of directors, and I cherish them.
In 2015, I participated in a walk for mito and it hit me that I was the only one walking the 2.5km who had mito. Others were either being pushed in a wheelchair, or family members were walking in memory of their loved ones. When I finally finished, I was 40 min behind everyone else, and all the finishers were still there to cheer me on. The encouragement was so inspiring!
I can’t walk that distance now; however, after that year, I decided to raise awareness in my own community. I started Walk’nRoll 4 Mito in 2015 because it gives me a purpose to focus on what I can do, and I’m excited to see that it has since gone national. The support I have received from MitoCanada has been encouraging and kept me going, especially during the tough times. I want to show that doing something is better than nothing, and the more you push yourself, the better you will feel. Exercise is medicine, especially with mito disorders. Even though I can’t walk 2.5 km, I do what I can. I find that an hour in the water doing aquafit is most beneficial to me.
In 2015, when I started the Walk’nRoll, my sister Rita (who also had mito) was being pushed in a wheelchair. Rita lost her battle to mito and since 2018, the walk has been in memory of Rita and all the ones we have lost too soon to this disease.

I’m passionate about raising awareness and funds for research because it would have made a difference in my life and my sister Rita’s. I began having symptoms at the age of 8 but was not correctly diagnosed with mito until I was 18 years old. There is a huge advantage with early testing, diagnosis and education.

My vision for MitoCanada is that we would be able to get an early diagnosis so treatment can begin right away, to continue with mitochondrial transplantation research and testing and eventually find a cure.

As for me, I’ll keep fighting. I know that I have mito, but mito does not have me

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Meet Hazel

Meet Hazel

My name is Hazel Currie, and I’m proud to be involved as a MitoAmbassador. Supporting Canadians living with mito diseases is such important work and so needed. I am active with MitoCanada, supporting the organization through various fundraising and educational events, including “Hazel’s Light Up for Mito” annual walk, Mermaids for Mito, and MitoSpin in my hometown of Victoria, British Columbia. 

I believe that creating connections are key to a healthy and vibrant community. As a professional communicator in my work, I see first-hand the rewards of meaningful engagement and relationship building.

I am diagnosed with the ultra-rare mitochondrial disease, MNGIE (mitochondrial neurogastrointestinal encephalopathy). I want to educate and share with others about mito diseases, be part of creating awareness, and hopefully find better treatments and a cure. There are days I just want to curse MNGIE & its effects.

My vision is finding other MNGIE patients in Canada and around the world, so those with rare diseases know they are not alone.

I aim to lead an active lifestyle, embracing challenging hikes and walks with my husband and sons. I also enjoy cooking, reading, doing ocean dips at the beach year-round (rain, shine, or snow!), and hanging out with my affectionate dog and cat.

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Meet Keith

Meet Keith

My name is Keith and I am a civil engineer technologist and a vice president of a civil construction company in Kelowna, BC.

I am married, have an adult stepson, and an Australian Labradoodle named Parker. I enjoy music, both listening to it and playing (not well) my guitar. Health advocacy is important to me as I live with persistent neuropathic pain, unrelated to mitochondrial disease. I am a co-author of peer-reviewed published articles, guest lecturer at universities, and present at conferences throughout North America.

My experiences with MitoCanada include supporting Mitochondrial Disease Awareness Week initiatives, including a City of Kelowna proclamation, lighting up the iconic Spirit of Sail sculpture green, assisting in the development of education resources and most recently joining MitoCanada’s Strategy for Rare Disease Drugs committee. I am focused on raising awareness and understanding of mitochondrial disease through social media; as one living with a mitochondrial disease, it is important to me to raise awareness of this rare disease. Most people, both in society and in health care, have little to no knowledge of this health condition, especially the significant effects on infants and children.

My vision for MitoCanada is to increase public awareness and understanding of mitochondrial disease, further collaboration with all levels of government, advance research for diagnosis and treatment, and expand resources and support for those living with mitochondrial disease.

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Meet Kailey

My name is Kailey and I live in Ajax, Ontario with my husband and two children. My diagnosis journey with mitochondrial disease began in childhood and took more than seven years before a muscle biopsy finally gave me some answers. Later, with the support of Dr. Mark Tarnopolsky, I was diagnosed with CPEO+. Along the way, I’ve faced ptosis (and four surgeries), vision loss, chronic pain, respiratory issues, and muscle weakness.

MitoCanada has been such an important part of my journey. I attended the very first Canadian mitochondrial disease conference, received support to join the UMDF conference in the U.S., and volunteered as a peer supporter. Each of these experiences connected me with others who truly understood what I was going through. Today, I’m proud to serve as a MitoCanada Ambassador and I look forward to raising awareness, sharing my story, and supporting others in the mito community.

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Meet CindyLynn

Hi, my name is Cindylynn. I live in Cornwall, Ontario with my husband and two children, Emery and Sophia. I’m also mom to my late son, Emil, who continues to inspire everything I do.

My personal connection to mitochondrial disease comes through Emil’s story. He was diagnosed with a rare mitochondrial disease called Alpers, and although his life was short, his story continues to guide me and fuel my passion to raise awareness, support families, and honour his memory in meaningful ways. What makes me passionate about this cause is knowing that Emil’s life can bring hope, understanding, and connection to others facing mitochondrial disease. I believe strongly in the power of community, and I want to help ensure that families affected never feel alone in their journey.

I enjoy camping, skiing, and simple board game nights with my family,  time together that has become even more meaningful since learning just how short life can be. I also take great joy in step dancing, something I’ve been doing for decades, as it’s a way to stay active and connected to tradition.

My vision for MitoCanada is to help strengthen awareness and build a supportive network across the country. By sharing stories, raising our voices, and working together, I believe we can bring hope, connection, and progress to families living with mitochondrial disease.

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Research in MitoNutrition

Mitochondrial disease is complex and highly individualized, so it’s no surprise that nutrition research is moving toward more personalized, diagnosis-informed approaches. While we don’t yet have a single “best diet” for mitochondrial disease, growing evidence is helping clinicians better understand when nutrition strategies may be helpful, for whom, and why.

This is an encouraging direction. As research evolves, it strengthens the possibility of more refined nutrition guidance, better symptom management tools, and ultimately, improved quality of life for adults living with mito.

One of the most hopeful shifts in the field is a move away from one-size-fits-all advice and toward precision care, where nutrition strategies are tailored to a person’s specific mitochondrial diagnosis, symptoms, and metabolic risks.

This approach recognizes that different genetic conditions can affect energy pathways differently, and nutrition strategies need to match those differences (for example, fasting guidance in FAOD versus other mitochondrial conditions).

Researchers continue to explore therapies aimed at supporting mitochondrial function more directly, including targeted supplements and “metabolic support” strategies that influence how cells generate and use energy. For example, NAD⁺ biology and NAD⁺-boosting compounds (such as nicotinamide riboside and related approaches) are being actively studied across conditions involving mitochondrial health, with emerging clinical trial results in rare disorders showing mixed but evolving findings. NAD⁺ (Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide) is a coenzyme found in every cell, crucial for energy metabolism, DNA repair and cellular signaling.

It’s important to note that many of these approaches are still under study, and what’s appropriate can vary widely by diagnosis. This is why specialist guidance remains essential as new options emerge.

Another rapidly growing area is the connection between gut health, the microbiome, and mitochondrial function. A 2024 review focused specifically on mitochondrial disease highlights the “mitochondria-microbiome” connection and explores how diet and microbe-produced metabolites (small organic molecules produced during metabolism) may influence mitochondrial pathways, opening up new possibilities for supportive therapies and research.

For many adults with mito who experience gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, this research is especially meaningful because it validates that GI function isn’t “separate” from energy, it may be part of the same interconnected system.

Nutrition is a powerful tool for supporting daily living with mitochondrial disease.

By understanding the principles of MitoNutrition, balanced meals, adequate hydration, symptom-aware strategies, and appropriate supplements, individuals can make informed choices that help support energy, resilience, and overall quality of life.

As with all aspects of mito care, nutrition works best when it is personalized and team-based, guided by healthcare providers who understand both the diagnosis and the individual. Because every mitochondrial condition, and every person living with mito, is different, there is no single approach that fits all.

You are not alone on this journey. Small, thoughtful nutrition steps, taken one at a time, can add up to meaningful support over time, helping you navigate daily life with greater confidence and care.

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