Reasons to Believe

It´s that time of year again! This fall, SickKids Foundation embarked on the second phase of its marketing communications program for the "Believe" campaign. Our objective during this stage is to inspire more people in the GTA to donate to SickKids Foundation by conveying the ongoing need for funds to targeted audiences - specifically mothers with children living at home and active grandparents.

Over the course of the next three months, you will see new advertisements strategically placed in shopping malls, magazines, and on various websites. These ads focus on an explicit ask for donations using seven current SickKids patients. Within the coming weeks, you will be able to read more about these inspiring children on our newly redesigned website, www.sickkidsfoundation.com. In addition, the commercial produced last year to "Lean on Me" will be running again during this year´s phase of the campaign in movie theatres across the GTA and on select television stations.

Our newly designed SickKids Foundation website is a reflection of our vision: Healthier Children. A Better World.™ The new site is bright, friendly and easy to read and navigate. It showcases our patients, staff and donors as well as our successes and accomplishments in children´s health research and care.

The best part of the new site is that it is designed so that it works best with newly updated content. This means that it will be a living site, with new information posted regularly. Not only will this encourage visitors to return often, but it will provide new insight into SickKids and give more reasons to give generously.

Features include:

• Home Page: The latest news, events, patient and staff profiles as well as our latest fundraising tools including special online auctions and seasonal giving options
• Why Give: Information on why private donations are critical to making SickKids a world leader in children's health research and care
• More Ways to Give: Outlining all of the ways an individual can get involved. It´s easier than you think.
• Our Stories: Features profiles of staff, patients and donors
• Events: Information on events to attend, or create your own event in support of SickKids!


• News & Media: Find the latest news, publications and media-related content
• About Us: Information for visitors who want the facts about who we are and what we do
• Grants: Information on our National Grants Program including past grants and grant applications
• Visit our newly designed ShopSickKids.com. Easier to use, and more great SickKids merchandise to choose from!

We invite you to visit the site and tell us what you think. With our new design and content, we´ll keep you coming back for more!

Everyone thought two-year-old Caitlin was the picture of health. But her mother Natalie was concerned about her stomach, which seemed to be distended. She took Caitlin to their family doctor, who sent them to her local hospital for blood tests.

Doctors there knew something wasn´t right and immediately transferred her to SickKids for further examinations. In the Emergency department, Caitlin was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), a rapidly progressive cancer arising from white blood cells in the bone marrow. ALL is the most common type of leukemia, and the most common malignancy in young children. Caitlin was admitted to the Haematology/Oncology inpatient unit, where she had to endure even more tests. Doctors discovered that many of her organs were enlarged from the disease, and started her on chemotherapy immediately.

Caitlin was initially at SickKids for over seven weeks. Although she responded well to treatment, she had her ups and downs. When she first started chemotherapy, there were numerous complications, including several bouts of bowel inflammation. Since many of the chemotherapy drugs she was taking can result in pneumatosis, her treatment had to be delayed until she recovered. She was so ill at one point that the Critical Care team at SickKids was on standby in case she had to be transferred to the critical care unit.

She receives chemotherapy as an outpatient at her local hospital, which has been set up as one of the satellite oncology centres in the GTA. It has paediatricians and nurses trained at Sickkids who administer chemotherapy and take care of central lines. She still comes to SickKids every 12 weeks for check-ups, blood tests and a lumbar puncture. Caitlin will continue to receive chemotherapy until May 2007.

Read about other kids like Caitlin at www.sickkidsfoundation.com.

Truly going above and beyond to help the children who need her most, Dr. Irwin is one of the leading physicians at SickKids using their amazing abilities to treat cases of neuroblastoma - a solid, extra-cranial tumour occurring during infancy and early childhood. And it is precisely her "synergistic collaborations" with other hospital departments that have distinguished her practice.

Dr. Irwin is a staff physician in SickKids haematology/oncology department. Educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, she has been a fervent health-care practitioner since 1992. She joined SickKids in 2002 after serving her paediatric residency at Children´s Hospital Boston and her post-doctoral research fellowship at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

"Although neuroblastoma is the third most common cancer in kids, it gets a lot less attention than adult cancers. Promoting awareness and funding research of paediatric cancers like this are very important to me," Dr. Irwin said. Her steadfast involvement with the Foundation includes her participation in events surrounding The James Fund for Neuroblastoma Research.

The restricted fund, the largest of its kind in Canada, directly supports investigations into new therapies. She also provides educational tours to benefactors of clinical oncology and its research, while regularly paying tribute to patients and families. At the Foundation´s Heroes Dinner on Oct. 25, she will again speak about her role at SickKids and her experience treating oncology patients.

"Most of us in the labs at SickKids have been largely assisted by philanthropic funds through the Foundation," Dr. Irwin said. "...Donations will continue to support many of the neuroblastoma-related research projects going on at SickKids."

Do you have a SickKids story? Were you a patient at SickKids? Do you have a child, family member or friend who is or was a SickKids patient? Please share your story with us.

We are always looking for new stories to use on our website, in newsletters like this one and in our other print materials. We would love to hear your story!

´Flare´ for Fashion - October 19, 2006
Come and share in an evening of ´Flare,´ fun and fashion in support of raising awareness and finding a cure for the debilitating disease, lupus. The event is taking place at the Paramount Special Event Venue at 222 Rowntree Dairy Road in Vaughan, Ont. (Hwy 7 & Weston Road).

Proceeds from this event will go towards aiding rheumatologists at SickKids in their research of atherosclerosis, a hardening of the arteries. Join us as we help bring others hope. Together, we can conquer lupus. For more information, please contact Diana Bozzo at 416 356 5736 or flareforfashion@sympatico.ca, and visit the website at www.flareforfashion.ca.

Creativfestival - October 19-22, 2006
The Creative Sewing & Needlework Festival is Canada´s largest sewing and needlework craft show. It will feature this year´s ´Creativ Idol´ Jewels & Jeans competition at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, North Building, 255 Front Street West.

The shows are scheduled for Thursday, October 19 between 12 p.m. and 8 p.m.; Friday, October 20 between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m.; Saturday, October 21 between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. and Sunday, October 22 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. For more information, please visit www.csnf.com.

Jesse´s Scissors in Motion - October 22, 2006
The fourth annual Jesse´s Scissors-in-Motion hair cut-a-thon fundraiser will be held in prestigious salons (The Canadian Guild of Hair Design Professionals members and friends) located across the Greater Toronto Area, including a special one that will be set up in SickKids atrium that day. The raised funds will bring music therapy to critically ill children in palliative care through the hospital´s Music Therapy in Palliative Care Program.

From Monday, October 2, 2006, supporters will be asked to pre-book and pre-pay for their $30 hair cut (a super deal!) or make a donation by calling the hotline 416 201 5208 or 1 800 254 7719. Please feel free to visit www.jessesfoundation.com for more information, including the list of salons and detailed booking instructions.

The Baby and Toddler Event - October 27-29, 2006
Shop, learn and have fun all within one vibrant place celebrating parenthood. Discover new and interesting parenting products, the latest gear, parenting tools, places to go, services and information. Be entertained by well-known children´s characters, engage in informative seminars and learn from the experts one on one.

SickKids Foundation is the on-site charitable partner for the second annual Baby and Toddler Show. Visit our booth for SickKids merchandise and books by SickKids experts, as well as bid on exciting auction items benefiting the Foundation. The Baby and Toddler Show will be held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. For more information on ticket purchases and to learn more about the show, visit www.thebabyandtoddlershow.com.

Children´s Trunk Show - November 10-11, 2006
The Seventh Children´s Trunk Show will be held at the Vaughan Estates, 2075 Bayview Avenue in Toronto. This twice-yearly event will showcase exquisite handmade products and clever services developed by a cooperative of women entrepreneurs.

Their collective offering is themed exclusively for children, with just a smattering of hip adult items to let mom indulge a bit, too. SickKids Foundation is the on-site charitable partner of the Children´s Trunk Show. A portion of the $5 entrance fee will be donated to the Foundation and SickKids merchandise will be available on-site for purchase. Visit www.childrenstrunkshow.com for more information.