My Story
On May 12th, for the third year in a row, I will be participating in the Sporting Life 10K. The event supports an organization very close to my heart: Campfire Circle – a group that supports kids and families affected by childhood cancer or serious illness. As most of you know, back in early 2022, my son Benjamin was diagnosed with Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis (LCH): a rare disease classified as cancer. For 12+ months, Benjamin (the Brave, as we affectionately call him) underwent 25 rounds of chemotherapy, multiple surgeries and countless visits to SickKids as part of his treatment plan. While his medical journey is on-going, as of April 2024, we are fortunate enough to say that Benjamin has been classified as cancer-free by his doctors, and he’s living his best six-year-old life these days.
We haven’t experienced the incredible camp experience Campfire Circle offers, but Benjamin and our family had all sorts of in-hospital interactions with the organization. On those difficult surgery or chemo days, we were so grateful for the volunteers who spent time with Ben and helped make him laugh or smile with a craft, toy, sticker or slime. While Ben doesn't spend as much time in the hospital as he was during treatment, we know there are so many other kids and families facing a similar battle – and I’m running once again to support them as well as honour Ben’s journey.
Description
Help deliver healing through happiness to kids with cancer or serious illness and their families.
When a child is diagnosed with cancer or serious illness, it impacts the whole family. Kids miss out on simple childhood joys, household incomes are often cut in half as caregivers take on the full-time responsibility of caring for a sick child, and families struggle to make time for special experiences. When you donate to Campfire Circle you are supporting in-hospital, community and overnight camp programs that create opportunities for children to build friendships and social skills, develop self-confidence and resiliency, and improve their overall well-being. Through play-based experiences, you are helping empower kids to take back their childhood, regardless of their medical diagnosis. With your support, we can continue to offer our programs at no cost to families and grow our circle of care to provide additional play-based experiences across all four paediatric hospitals, and improve our medically supported and accessible overnight camps so that every eligible child can benefit from our innovative and impactful programs. Thank you for helping to build a world where children thrive and families heal. |
Achievements
Recent donors
Donation date | Donor name | Donation amount |
---|---|---|
Apr 22 | Mitchell Blaine | $107.91 |
Apr 22 | JP | $268.93 |
Apr 22 | Andrel Wisdom | $54.24 |
Apr 22 | Anonymous | Undisclosed amount |