So, it’s the day before.  I’m so excited for After Hours 2011!

This is the third year I’ll be going and I’ve got to say, each year it just gets better. I never thought, back when I was first admitted to SickKids for malignant fibrous histiocytoma and a broken femur in 2006, that a few years later I would have a chance to go to something like After Hours. I didn’t even know something like that even existed! I love just being with my friends that I made during my time at the hospital and on the Children’s Council. Last year, my friend and I loved playing all the games and meeting the surprise celebrities.

Ever since my chemotherapy treatment and the months I spent in the hospital in traction, everything is always focused on my health, which is totally important, but I love that SickKids gives me a chance to have a good time and forget that I’m in a hospital. It means so much to me that I’m cared about enough at SickKids that I was invited to something as amazing as this. This is one of the reasons that SickKids is the BEST!

This year’s After Hours is even more exciting and special since it’s my last year at SickKids. I’m going to really miss this event. This is my chance to say goodbye to the friends I know I won’t see again before my time here is over, to remember the good times and even to dance with the amazing Child Life Specialists who I know will be there. This year is going to be the best year yet! 

I’m so excited to find out what celebrities are coming this year. I know the theme, but I know I’ll be surprised and awed by the amazing things they’ll have at After Hours. The decorations are always amazing! Last year, the theme was Alice in Wonderland and the whole place looked FANTASTIC – it was just like Wonderland! It was the coolest look ever! 

I’m not really sure what I’m going to wear though. Definitely a dress, although I have this black skirt I really love that I just need to find the right top to wear with it. If not, then I can wear my strapless blue, white and grey dress that I got a month ago and am dying to wear a second time. I’m kind of a last minute person, so I’ll go with my mood when I choose what to wear. As for my hair, if I can get my hair to look gorgeous when it dries by itself (REALLY CURLY hair is a real pain sometimes), then I’ll just hairspray it… and if it doesn’t work out, I can always straighten it. I’m going to do my own makeup too. I’m pretty good at doing people’s makeup and my own, so that’ll be pretty easy and fun. A bit of mascara, eyeliner, and my look is complete.

I am SO EXCITED!  I can’t wait!

The After Hours Exclusive Teen Event was inspired by a teenage girl who missed her prom while undergoing treatment at SickKids. The Child Life team at SickKids turned to Ellen Storfer and her family’s Dream Delivery fund to make the teen event a reality. To learn more about the Storfer Dream Delivery Program and how you can help make more dreams come true, please visit www.sickkidsfoundation.com/dreamdelivery/stories.asp.

Thank you to Alexandra Varela for generously sharing her experience with us.

From navigating a global economic recession to the launch of The Research & Learning Tower, our most ambitious capital campaign to date, the past few years at SickKids Foundation have been marked by significant achievements. These achievements – including a record-breaking $106.8 million raised in our last fiscal year – are a credit to the outstanding leadership provided by the Foundation’s Board of Directors, but in particular, that of Patsy Anderson, who ended her term last week as Board Chair. Thank you Patsy!

I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome and congratulate another exceptional leader, John Francis, on his appointment as the new Board Chair. As founder of Fraser Kearney Capital Corp. and former President and CEO of Trader Media Corporation, John brings with him a wealth of experience that I know will prove instrumental in his new role.

Read our media release to learn about the six people who will also be joining our Board: Rita F. Ciccolini, Kevin Crull, Charles Field-Marsham, David Goodman, Christian Lassonde and Justin Poy.

With the extensive qualifications and passion of each of these individuals, the legacy of achievements at SickKids will only continue to grow.

After being sidelined by an elbow injury last year, Mike Weir has been rather careful in his return to professional play. Still, he was sure to include a fundraising golf tournament at Angus Glen Golf Club today on his list of events. The tournament, as part of The Mike Weir Miracle Golf Drive for Kids presented by Thomson Reuters, will be raising important funds in support of The Research & Learning Tower campaign at SickKids.

Before heading over for the greens, however, he paid a special visit to patients in Marnie’s Lounge at The Hospital for Sick Children. Here, he had the chance to meet some aspiring golfers who were showing off their stuff on the Nintendo Wii – some future competition, to be sure.

Weir’s resolve to get back to the top of his game is not unlike that of our SickKids patients, including Tobin Haas – an 11-year-old sports fanatic and three-time brain cancer survivor who accompanied Weir at the tournament.

By supporting The Research & Learning Tower, Weir and fellow golfers will be doing a lot more than kicking-off the Canadian golf season – they will also be kicking-off the transformation of child health by becoming a part of this important project.

It is a project you can also be a part of by donating here.

And don’t forget to come back to find out how Weir and all our other generous supporters fared on the greens – I’m sure it’s going to be a hole-in-one for SickKids!