THUNDER BAY — Children at BGC Thunder Bay learned that no matter your current or past situation, it’s never right to give up and the word ‘can’t’ is no longer in their vocabulary.
Alvin Law, professional Hall of Fame Canadian speaker, made a stop at the BGC on Friday, prior to speaking at Lakehead University on Saturday.
Law was born in 1960, after his birth mother was prescribed thalidomide, which was give to pregnant woman at the time for morning sickness.
“It was banned in 1962 to be given to pregnant women, but before that it was affecting thousands of babies whose limbs didn't grow properly before birth, so my arms didn't grow,” Law said.
The most important part of Law’s story is not the fact of being born with no arms, but his birth family’s decision to give him away.
“I was raised in a foster home in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, where my foster parents taught me so many of the skills that are very, very important to me to this day - resiliency, never giving up and of course my mom and dad's favorite expression ‘there's no such word as can't.’
“I take that message to all kinds of audiences, of course, the language changes if they're kids, but every group I speak to it's fundamentally the same - that our attitude can do amazing things to move our life from the impossible to the possible because anything is possible.”
Law spoke to 99 children at the BGC for 40 minutes, where they were all engaged and excited.
“No matter what generation we're talking about, but especially in 2025, there's so much division, there's too many politics, too many arguments, too many people being angry at each other for their opinions.
“I agree they're important and we're all allowed to have our point of view, but at the end of the day what I hope people do is to re-evaluate what they see as the negatives in their life, or as I like to say it's a very common expression, see the good and the bad, but more than anything, remember we're all in this together,” Law said.
Albert Aiello, CEO of the Thunder Bay BGC, said staff and children alike felt fortunate for the experience.
“I think the message is so strong, it's so pure and you see the reactions of the kids. It's not easy to have a group of kids sit for 40 minutes and be completely engaged in what's going on.”
It’s something they can learn from and that they can carry with them forever, Aiello said.
“Our tagline for Boys and Girls Club is ‘opportunity changes everything’ and we really live true to that by providing opportunities for children. You might have the next doctor in the crowd, you might have the next pro athlete, you might have the next lawyer, you may have a Supreme Court judge, you don't know, but unless you give them the opportunity they never know.
“This presentation really just strengthens and emphasizes what we as a national organization Boys and Girls Club truly believe that anything is possible and there is no word like ‘can't,’ that just doesn't belong in our vocabulary,” Aiello said.
9-year-old Bennett BeauParlant said his favourite part was seeing Law play the piano with his toes.
“I saw how he put a part of his foot on the piano ledge to give him a little bit of an advantage while playing it with his toes.”
Law also connected his story to dog’s that wind up in shelters.
“I personally have two dogs. I liked how he helped that dog get out of the abuse, being attacked by humans,” BeauParlant said.
The message he took away from today is, “no matter how hard it is, never quit.”
9-year-old Isla Warren said she loved the entire thing.
“It taught me that there's no such word as can't. I think I'll use it in my life a lot.
Warren said she will never give up.
Michael Morrow and Richard Dobson, members of the Million Dollar round table, along with Law, presented a cheque of $1,500 to the BGC as part of the event.
