Dear Associates, Clients, Family and Friends,
In the four years that Frank Leo & Associates have led this fundraising campaign in memory of Ava, you have made a significant and meaningful impact in supporting Emily’s House children’s hospice. Together we have:
- Raised/donated a total of $56,604 toward special hospice projects and programming in support of children with a life-limiting illness and complex disability.
- Delivered over 20 large SUVs full of toys and gifts for hospice families.
- Lifted the spirits and made the holiday season brighter for almost every Emily’s House family with children who were active on the hospice caseload the last four years. Including children, child siblings and loved ones cared for in this timeframe. Approximately 1,429 people have been directly impacted by the gift drive in four years!
- Helped impact every child who received recreation/medical respite that included therapeutic or sensory play in Emily’s House Snoezelen Room at Emily’s House since 2021. Funds donated for the room refresh/renovation made the space more inclusive, accessible and engaging with new sensory installations.
- Gifted Emily’s House a Snoezelen Cart and a Sensory Bubble Tube in 2023. The new airless bubble tube, which is at the cutting edge of technology, is a highlight of the Snoezelen Room (sensory stimulation and therapeutic room) with its changing colours, dancing light and bubble show.
- Supported children and strengthened families. Throughout 2023 and 2024 children were able to participate in Emily’s House Children’s Recreation Experiences – with thanks to the funds donated. Children accessed “purposeful play” through special events and programming at hospice home, home visits, and recreational outings in the community, (i.e., March Break and Summer Camps, seasonal events at Emily’s House, trips to the Royal Ontario Museum, and even in-hospice visits from zoo animals!)
- Mobilized an “army of elves” (hospice volunteers and care team staff) to participate in special moments of generosity: helping parents select a toy or gift for their child from the free, holiday “pop up shop” for hospice clients; or hand-delivering special gift packages to be opened and enjoyed during the holiday season.
That’s meaningful impact. Thank you for all you’ve done, and for making this year’s upcoming campaign the best yet!
Emily’s House 2023 Tour and Ribbon Cutting
Last December, ten representatives of Frank Leo & Associates visited Emily’s House children’s hospice to deliver toys, and to participate in a ribbon-cutting in the Emily’s House Snoezelen Room (therapeutic sensory play space), which was updated with funds from the fundraising in the previous year.
Proposed Frank Leo & Associates Fundraising Projects for 2024:
- Medical Equipment: Ambulatory Infusion Pumps: for use with children at Emily’s House, for the infusion of medications/fluids. The preferred ambulatory pumps are unique in design and inspired by patient’s lives to make infusion simple and safe. Two pumps are currently needed: one pump to deliver infusions intravenously; and, the second to deliver infusions subcutaneously, which is helpful when it is difficult to locate a tiny vein. (Costs for this medical equipment are estimated to start at $5,000 and may require multiple accessories, such as tubing, battery, etc.).
- The CuddleCot™ Cooling Cot: is portable allowing parents the flexibility to choose where they spend time with their baby, in a personal and comforting environment. The gift of time allows families to create precious memories. Its impact is undeniable. It is in use in thousands of hospitals across the world. (Estimated pricing starts at $2,400 and will depend on the accessories needed).
- Program Opportunities: Core programming of Emily’s House Family Events or Recreational Outings for a year. (Estimated annual program budget line for expanding program: $10,000).
For those who prefer to donate something tangible, there is an option for that as well. Just remember, if you prefer to purchase an actual gift, do not gift wrap. Keep original packaging so parents can choose the right gifts for their children.
This Wish List of gift ideas and recommendations will inspire on how to bring some extra needed joy into hearts and homes this season.
Your donations will make a difference for a child, like Lucas, and his family.
A child is born … and a love story begins. In 2018, Baby Lucas’s parents shared:
“We had to make a choice. Something no one would ever have to make: an impossible choice. We chose to stop the aggressive medical intervention and to focus on enjoying the time we had left with Lucas…. Emily’s House is a children’s hospice: a place to be free with Lucas in a non-hospital environment. We got to see how he reacted outside of a hospital setting: He loved it.These moments were the best we had with him, but every moment was just one closer to saying goodbye. If we had to say “goodbye,” we wanted to make sure he knew and felt the love all around him. We wanted him to experience a Christmas with his family.
We could not have asked for a better present on Christmas day. I know he felt the love from everyone around him, and he honestly never seemed happier to me.”
Philip Aziz Centre for Hospice Care and Emily’s House provide medical respite, practical, emotional, grief and bereavement support to people living with life-limiting illnesses in the comfort of their own home, or in Toronto’s first paediatric residential hospice. Emily’s House also provides children’s recreation, music therapy and day camps. Their programs support children, adults, caregivers, siblings and survivors at no cost to them.
For more information on the incredible work being done at Emily’s House, please visit the website: https://paceh.ca/ and view the following videos:
Emily’s House Virtual Tour
Thank You Letter Read in a Coffee Shop
Please consider giving the gift of hospice by donating before December 10th 2024 and help reach families in need this season.