Help us BLOOM

Please check out the fall issue of BLOOM.

I'm sharing my editorial below, which is about an amazing opportunity to donate to BLOOM and see your contribution matched by the Coriat family, doubling the impact. Please take a moment to read and share widely. Thanks! Louise

BLOOM is the voice of parents raising children with disabilities—a voice that’s missing in many mainstream parenting forums.

Now Canadian parents David and Lynn Coriat challenge you to raise that voice so that more families here and around the world can benefit from BLOOM’s online community of information, inspiration and support.

Make a donation to support BLOOM by December 31, 2014 and the Coriat family will match your gift, dollar for dollar!*

Who are the Coriats?

They’re parents of a child with a disability, like you and me. For the last three years, David and Lynn have championed BLOOM with a substantial donation that funds the blog, print magazine, BLOOM speaker series and e-letter. Their vision and generosity have allowed Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital to lead the international dialogue on childhood disability, bringing our award-winning content to families and professionals everywhere.

David and Lynn believe in the power of BLOOM. Do you?

BLOOM is an international phenomenon. We have readers in 166 countries.

When parents visit the BLOOM blog or open our magazine, they see and celebrate families like their own. They feel less alone, more empowered. They get the best parent and professional advice and the latest on clinical and research advances. But most importantly, they’re united in an international community that speaks their parenting language. They feel heard and understood.

In this issue you’ll read stories from families in the UK, Italy, Holland, United States and Canada. No matter where you live, they will resonate.

Here’s how one parent describes the impact:

“Every issue makes me smile, shed a tear, write down an inspirational sentence or piece of advice or lead me to research a new product or technology. I love the holistic, family-centred approach…especially the fact that sibling issues are not ignored. The stories in BLOOM touch and change lives. What a wonderful gift.”

We’re asking for your support in order to reach more families with increased stories and content, meeting the needs expressed by our readers. Please consider a donation now, knowing that the Coriat family will match your gift and double its impact!

Every bit counts!

With gratitude, Louise

*The Coriat family will match any donation to a maximum of $50,000.

To make an immediate gift online, please visit our secure website at: http://hollandbloorview.ca/BLOOM

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Malaika Mums and Kids fundraiser

Want to support the Malaika Mums sewing project and Malaika Kids special-needs school in Kenya we wrote about in BLOOM (click on issue top right). Comfort the Children International, based in Austin, Texas is participating in a 24-hour fundraiser called Amplify Austin. Go to Amplify Austin and type CTC International in the search box to support these Kenyan projects for families of children with disabilities. Open till 7 p.m. March 5. Photo by Chelsea Dee.

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'Come out to play'

Beautiful message from Three to Be, a foundation that raises funds for research and therapies to improve the lives of children with neurological disorders. Founded by Jared and Dana Florence. Dana shared her thoughts with us in this interview: 'I've learned not to take anything for granted.'

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To celebrate Zack!

We attended a lovely event at a farm in support of Zack's Dream Room at York Central Hospital today. Louise

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Just what the doctor ordered!

His dream arrived in that box to the right, which was much bigger than it looks. It was packed with eight exquisitely-wrapped gift bags -- one for every member of our family and two for the workers who will go to overnight camp with Ben in August.

Ben got a frog stuffie to take to camp, the Sunshine Foundation t-shirt he's holding up and the cap he's wearing.

And in a large envelope was his dream: two full weeks of Camp Kennebec, the money orders for the workers who will accompany him and reference to the prepaid all-terrain wheelchair they've rented on Ben's behalf. Last year the one we borrowed didn't fit him properly and was challenging to push over the camp's hilly terrain.

The Sunshine Foundation fulfilled Ben's wish to return to Camp Kennebec. I don't know what the wheelchair rental costs, but the other costs are more than $5,000. We could never have sent Ben to this camp for two weeks. We could barely send him for one last year.

Sunshine thought of absolutely everything Ben could possibly need for his stay and gave it to us as a wonderful gift.

When you parent a child with disabilities, you often feel like you're facing walls: people's attitudes; arbitrary rules that exclude your child, whether from programs or funding; exorbitant costs.

I remember how defeated I felt when I sat down with the Sunshine application in front of me. "What is the point?" I asked my husband. I've spent hours filling out forms in the past that have gotten us nowhere. I honestly didn't believe that Ben would qualify for a dream. Surely something would bump him. But I filled out the forms and then Ben told me the things to list about why he wanted to go back to camp and we typed it on the computer: flying down the zip line; frogs; friends; catching his first fish.

We received a letter from Sunshine saying they would try to fulfill Ben's wish but because of the backlog of wishes they have in their system, they couldn't guarantee it for this year.

So when I received an e-mail saying it was a go, it was a surprise of epic proportions. The weight of having to finance the camp (you know how you tell yourself 'my child MUST have this experience, I will make it happen, no matter what!,' but then it gets down to the practicalities of 'how are you going to raise this money?!') rolled off my shoulders. It felt like we'd won the lottery. And more than that, it felt like someone believed my son deserved this dream -- was worthy of it. And instead of erecting barriers to our efforts to give Ben a rich life, this organization was going to take them all away.

What or who is the Sunshine Foundation? They are located in London, Ont. and fulfill the dreams of Canadian children with severe disabilities and life-threatening conditions. They've fulfilled the dreams of 6,500 children so far, and have a current backlog of 150 wishes. The foundation was started by a police officer in memory of his son who died as a result of muscular dystrophy. What a legacy! He wanted children like his son to be able to live their dreams.

The foundation has one office in London and operates with the help of chapters around the country run by volunteers.

We know how challenging it is to raise charitable dollars in our current economic climate. I can't help wondering how Ben's gift came to be. Perhaps Ben is going to camp because of the generous spirit of hundreds of individual donors from across the country.

I salute those donors, the Sunshine Foundation and its volunteers and I am immensely grateful.

Ben will be discharged as an inpatient July 30 and goes to camp August 1. I can't think of better medicine.

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Giving: 'The greatest feeling you'll ever have'

Bloorview has exciting news. This morning Canadian investment executive Bill Holland (in photo with Ben Hopper, 14) announced his family was donating $20 million to Bloorview Kids Rehab. The Holland family has already donated $6.2 million to the hospital. In recognition of their extraordinary giving, Bloorview is adding the Holland name to our name. Our new name is Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital. See the profile on Bill below!

Giving: 'The greatest feeling you'll ever have

Who: Bill Holland, CEO of CI Financial Corp. Canadian investment executive, father, philanthropist.

What: A $20 million gift to Bloorview to recruit the world’s best pediatric rehab physicians, scientists and therapists; build a program that will see parents and youth work alongside clinicians to improve hospital care and safety, teach future healthcare professionals, and support families; and increase capacity for training post-doctoral research and developmental pediatric fellows. Bill’s gift kicks off the No Limits campaign by Bloorview Kids Foundation to raise $80 million for the hospital. In total, Bill has donated $26.2 million to Bloorview.

Why: “I think that Bloorview is an amazing institution. When I walked in there the first time I was blown away by the kids, which is the thing that immediately grabs you. But then seeing the volunteers and staff and the heart and soul they put into their day job, that’s remarkable. Childhood disability is a prevalent problem in our society and demand for services at Bloorview far outstrips supply. In order to build capacity, we need to attract world-class talent. The better we populate Bloorview with world-class professionals, the better the hospital becomes.”

‘When you make a contribution to a place like Bloorview and you get a letter a year later from the mother of a child who was helped in a very significant way there – that’s the greatest feeling you’ll ever have.’

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