The Kids with Cancer Foundation located in Castle Hill is a national charity that supports children with cancer and their families right across the country.
The aim of the foundation is to create a world where a child’s cancer diagnosis is no longer a traumatic upheaval of their young lives and that of their family’s but simply an unremarkable event in their life journey.
In 2024, the Kids with Cancer Foundation assisted 274 families and provided 955 financial assistance grants to families to assist with household bills and expenses such as utility bills, mortgage and rent payments, food and petrol vouchers, car expenses etc. These financial assistance grants ease the financial strain placed on families with a child who has been diagnosed with cancer and allows families to focus on their sick child rather than on household bills.
Beyond the financial assistance program, the Kids with Cancer Foundation funds 20 clinical positions and 4 support positions across 8 children’s hospitals. To date Kids with Cancer has provided $24 million for these positions providing children with cancer with the best facilities and staff to make things a little easier.
On top of this tin 2024, the Kids with Cancer Foundation committed almost $1.5M for children’s cancer research across 4 children’s hospitals including researching genetic risk and brain cancer in children which is often lethal. These projects are potential game changers in the diagnosis and treatment of childhood cancers.
Recently I had the opportunity to visit the Kids With Cancer Foundation, to learn more about their programs as well as to assist packing Care Packs for children undergoing cancer treatment in hospital. These packs contain plenty of nutritious snacks as well as some fun activities to reduce the stress and beat the boredom of a hospital visit.
Folding the boxes is a bit of a skill and ensuring the snacks and activities all fit is a challenge however, the most important part of the Care Pack is the handwritten encouraging message for the child receiving the Care Pack. It is incredible how powerful a few words written on the card can have on the child receiving the Care Pack and their family, knowing that someone is thinking of them and cheering for them. These Care Packs truly do bring joy and moments of happiness in a difficult environment!
Last year, over 165 volunteers spent more than 60 hours packing close to 6000 Care Packs that were distributed to 7 hospitals across Australia. Volunteering to assist with assembly Care Parks is very rewarding and a lot of fun. It makes for a fantastic team building activity whether it be with a social group or work group whilst providing an opportunity to help some of our sickest kids in the country and to bring joy to them and their families. I look forward to assisting again with assembling Care Packs soon!
A huge thank you to the staff, volunteers, sponsors and supporters who make the work of the Kids with Cancer Foundation possible. All of us look forward to a cancer free future for our children.
To find out more about the Kids With Cancer Foundation including how you can get involved go to www.kidswithcancer.org.au
