We recently received a very welcome $500 towards Harry’s Appeal from a couple who would prefer to remain anonymous but who would like to share this thought with you…

We just sold our house and it went for a bit more than we expected, so we decided to pass on some money to an IGAB appeal for a family that needs the money much more than we do. I’d encourage anyone out there to give something if possible. I can guarantee it will make you feel good.

They’d read about Harry’s Appeal in the local paper and had kept the article until their home sold in the hope that they could then do something special for him – and they sure did – nice huh?

Harry and his mum

Harry’s Appeal is the first appeal we’ve ever had that hasn’t been completed within 6 weeks.

We’ve always had a policy for what would happen if we had a large, long-running appeal but we’ve never had to put it to work until now.

So here’s how it works:

In the first 6 weeks of any appeal (what we call Phase 1) we really get to work. We feature the appeal as far and wide as possible. It’s in our newsletter every week, it’s talked about on our Facebook Page all the time and we issue press releases about the story to all the local papers and major dailies too. In addition to that we contact business and service clubs and schools in the local child’s area and ask for their assistance in running a fundraiser or hosting a collection tin etc.

Now, we are a small charity – in fact up here in QLD there’s just me (Barb) and my husband Peter. And in VIC there’s just Liat for 20 hours a week.  Yep, three of us. That’s it. Between us we do everything. So to keep up the Phase 1 activities for every appeal would be pretty hard. That’s where Phase 2 comes in.

In Phase 2 the appeal stays open – we’ll never close an appeal until it’s finished – and the appeal page stays on our web site so that online donations can still be received for that child.  And we still work behind the scenes looking for every opportunity there is to raise the shortfall. We also keep updating everyone once a week or so on our Facebook page as a reminder that help is still needed.

The biggest difference between the two phases is feature spots in our weekly e-newsletter. During Phase 1, every appeal gets a feature spot in the newsletter but during Phase 2 they don’t.This is for a couple of reasons:

• everyone on the newsletter mailing list that was going to donate to any particular appeal would have done so within that 6 week period if they were going to
• we know from experience that most of our members donate to a given appeal just once and then they wait for the next child to help
• we know from experience that we get the best results when we give people just one or two stories at a time

What this means for Harry is that he’ll no longer have a feature spot in the newsletter, but everything else will stay the same.   We’re going to get Harry back on the road again. We won’t stop until we do.

Whoever said you can’t buy happiness evidently forgot about puppies…

…and 10 y.o. Levi from Brunswick, VIC deserves every happiness the world can give him.

You see Levi has Angelman’s Syndrome, a genetic condition made up of a number of features which occur together as a group. In Levi’s case it is characterized by physical mobility issues, a severe intellectual disability, epilepsy and an inability to talk.

In addition, Levi has a severe anaphylactic allergy which has threatened his life on several occasions.

When we met Levi in January 2012 he was unfortunately very isolated due to his disability and found it hard to engage in age appropriate activities and make friends. He was a happy little boy, loved other children and all animals. His family desperately wanted to give Levi the chance to have a close relationship of his own, and enjoy the unconditional love from a puppy. A puppy that would grow with Levi and bring another level of joy and companionship to his life.

A specially trained therapy dog would provide not only great friendship and company for Levi, but would also help in certain tasks for Levi (like picking up dropped items, participating in his therapy sessions, and alerting the family when Levi is in danger).

A specially raised and trained therapy dog for Levi would cost approximately $3,000, and so that’s the target we set for his Appeal – which was finished in just 2 weeks!

The next step in the process is for Dogs for Kids with Disabilities to find the right dog for Levi and to train it specifically for him and his needs. The wonderful Katie Hunter from Dogs for Kids with disabilities will keep us posted and we’re looking forward to bringing you updates as things progress.

Odin was born extremely prematurely (at 26 weeks) and suffers from Cerebral Palsy.

His condition leaves him with significant mobility issues in both his arms and legs – something that greatly impacts his mobility. Odin finds it very hard to sit without support – even for very short periods of time and has limited floor mobility, having just recently learnt to roll and crawl on his tummy.

A Second Skin Body Suit, like the ones we’ve previously funded for Amy, Jocelyn and Piper, would allow Odin to sit without support for the first time and to walk independently using his walker. He’d wear it every day, allowing his muscles to work better and get stronger.

These differences would make a huge difference to Odin’s quality of life and give him access to a much greater range of play experiences.

Odin’s mum is a very young single mum who adores him, and who wants him to have every possible opportunity to develop to his potential – but she’s never going to be able to do this alone on a carer’s pension.

Odin’s Suit will cost $2,735 and there is no government funding available to assist with that cost – so we’ve launched this appeal to raise that funding.

If you’d like to donate to Odin’s Appeal just go to the bottom of his appeal page to find out how.

Not only is Alannah sick, but her Mum has been too….

 4 ½ year old Alannah from Caroline Springs in Melbourne has an undiagnosed condition which has resulted in many problems, including dyspraxia (it’s difficult to get her body to do what she wants it to do), a poor swallow reflex (dysphagia) resulting in frequent choking (hence she is mainly tube fed), and developmental delays.  She also has white matter changes in her brain and has recently started experiencing seizures.

And if that isn’t enough, her Mum has been having treatment for the past 2 ½ years for an aggressive breast cancer.

Now here’s the problem.

Alannah is a wanderer.  Quite the explorer in fact.  Especially at night. And while she should be safely tucked up in bed like her Mum, Dad and brother, Alannah likes to get up and move around the house.  Not being aware of the dangers, she is at great risk of hurting herself during these midnight explorations.  She also has a habit of exploring objects with her mouth and has a particular fascination with water.  Not good when you have dysphagia as she’s at a high risk of choking or aspirating.  Added to the problem is her recent seizure activity – where she can fall out of bed or hit her head and limbs.

A good night’s sleep is needed by everyone in Alannah’s family – especially her Mum.

Alannah’s Occupational Therapist has identified an incredibly safe Medifab Safe Surround Plus bed that is height adjustable (to assist with her Mum with transfers) and has extra high padded bed rails (which will stop Alannah climbing out of bed). The padding will also stop her being injured during seizures and will stop her being too visually stimulated at bedtime. The bed also has adjustable sleeping positioning so that Alannah will be able to have the most comfortable sleeping position to match her medical needs. 

It would be so reassuring for Alannah’s parents to be able to put her to bed and to know that she would remain safe throughout the night, but like most disability-related equipment it seems that this is not something that’s going to come cheap. 

The bed that has been recommended by Alannah’s therapist will cost $11,439.50.  With $2,000 of that being applied for through the Victorian Statewide Equipment Program, our BIG BUCKS Appeal seeks to raise the remaining $9,439.50.

If you‘d like to help you can donate at the bottom ofher appeal page here…

Australian children’s charity I Give A Buck Foundation of Australia Ltd assists children from disadvantaged families who also suffer from a life-threatening or life-altering illness or condition – with particular focus on terminally ill children. 

The publicity that Emma’s Appeal received also resulted in another possible funding option coming to light for Emma’s family to cover the remaining cost of her treatment.  We’ll keep you posted on their progress.

5 year old Bella has multiple, and complex, medical issues resulting from a rare chromosomal disorder. The ventricles in her brain are enlarged, resulting in an intellectual impairment, low muscle tone, delayed speech and delayed motor skills.  Bella has feeding tube surgically connected to her tummy so that she can receive nutrition.

Because her condition is so rare she doesn’t qualify for government funding that could subsidise the extremely high combined costs of her therapies, equipment and aids.

Bella has the opportunity to attend Conductive Educational Queensland every week to receive some fantastic Occupational, Speech and Physio Therapies.  The program teaches children with neurological conditions to be as independent as possible and to develop confidence and self-esteem.  

The program is improving Bella’s health and well-being. It’s improving her quality of life.

But the cost of the program is becoming difficult to manage on top of the cost of all her other medical treatments and all the special pieces of disability aids and equipment that she needs too.

At I Give A Buck! we believe that every child has the right live with dignity and good health and happiness – and so we’re running Bella’s Appeal to raise the $4,600 needed to pay for Bella’s therapies through until the end of 2012. Currently, we have $800 in the kitty so much more is needed.

If you’d like to ensure that Bella is given the chance to shine please donate to her appeal here.  All donations $2 and over are tax deductible and 100% of your donation will go towards Bella’s therapy costs.

We’ve just paid $2,487.70 towards the wheelchair hoist for Breanna’s car. She’ll be on the road by Friday!

7 year old Breanna was born with Lissencephaly – that same condition that Nate has – and this leaves her with some very serious health issues.

Breanna is severely physically and intellectually disabled.  She is unable to sit, walk, play, dance, sing or communicate with her family, all the things little 7 year olds should be doing. She also suffers from epilepsy, has scoliosis, hearing loss, is fed via a gastronomy tube into her tummy and requires suctioning to help protect her airways. Frequent respiratory illnesses are a major issue for Breanna – as is osteoporosis which recently caused her to suffer a fracture because her bones have never been able to weight bear.

When we met Breanna in July 2011 she was at a point in her development that required her family to make some major changes in order to keep her, and themselves, safe and healthy.

As Breanna gets older, she gets heavier and her bones become more brittle.  Lifting her by hand puts too much stress on her bones and puts her at serious risk of more fractures, and puts her mum, Shannan, at serious risk of injury too. Mum is her full-time carer and it is critical that she maintains her own health so that she can look after Breanna’s vast and complex needs.

Breanna was at an age where she had grown out of her car seat and there were no seats available that would be either big enough for her, or would offer her the sufficient postural support to enable her to breathe efficiently or comfortably. Breanna’s physiotherapist had said it was time for the family to purchase a desperately needed van that could offer wheel-in, wheel-out access for Breanna and her wheelchair.

With such a vehicle, Breanna could be safely transported to her regular hospital appointments and therapy sessions and could better access the community in general, allowing her to attend a special school and to visit family and friends.  Breanna’s family had a vehicle to use as a trade –in but there was still a large shortfall in the funds required to purchase the wheelchair van.  So we decided to help to get Breanna back on the road and Breanna’s Appeal originally sought to raise $5,000 towards the cost of the van.

Well! Within four weeks over $26,000 had come flooding into Breanna’s Appeal and a second hand van came on the market that was just perfect.  Once the owner read about Breanna’s story he even dropped the price!  We managed to buy the car for the family on August 2nd and continued raising funds to go towards the wheelchair hoist to get Breanna in and out.  Our appeals run for 6 weeks so we kept Breanna’s Appeal open until August 15th, 2011 and managed to raise $2,487.70 towards the hoist.

The generosity of this wonderful community of donors, and of Breanna’s friends, family and local community has been just staggering and everybody that contributed should feel VERY proud.  A truly wonderful thing has been achieved.

Australian children’s charity I Give A Buck Foundation of Australia Ltd assists children from disadvantaged families who also suffer from a life-threatening or life-altering illness or condition – with particular focus on terminally ill children.

“Some of you may remember our beautiful and happy little girl Madison Rose.  For those of you who don’t know, Madison was born on the 2nd of June 2005, a healthy gorgeous little girl who was loved, wanted and cherished dearly by us all.

She was (and still is) the apple of her daddy’s eye, adored and spoilt by her big brother Josh, and the perfect little girl I had always wished for; she has truly made our family complete.  She is our ‘little ray of sunshine’.
Madison began developing normally; learning to talk, (her first words were dad -dad –dad, of course!), using her hands to feed herself, picking up toys and playing with things. It was not until her first birthday that we realized something was not right. 

At the age of 19 months we had our first visit to the Royal Children’s Hospital and it was there that we received the life changing news of her diagnosis. ’Madison has Rett Syndrome; the condition is regressive, incurable and untreatable.’

We were given no definite life expectancy for her other than maybe 10 -12 years of age, and with that we were told to just enjoy each day that we have with her. Never in our wildest dreams did we ever think that she would be diagnosed with such a devastating condition; not our little girl.

Needless to say our whole world was turned upside down, our ‘normal‘ life turned instantly into a world of unknowns and devastation. Rett Syndrome has left Madison without the ability to speak, although she expresses herself so eloquently with her eyes.

She has no purposeful use of her hands or arms; she cannot walk, sit, nor stand independently and is reliant on her wheelchair for all of her mobility inside and outside the house.
Because of the severity of her condition Maddy requires 24/7 care. I am her main caregiver as my husband has to work fulltime but when he gets home from work he loves to take over and care for his little girl, as this is his special time with her and it also gives me a bit of a break.

Maddy suffers from many other medical conditions connected to having Rett Syndrome. She has epilepsy and is now medicated 3 times a day for uncontrolled seizures; she also has the onset of scoliosis (curvature of the spine), and respiratory complications. Madison suffers from breathing abnormalities as her condition causes her to hyperventilate and at times hold her breath. The Rett syndrome has caused her muscles to weaken and has also deteriorated her bone strength.

This condition has had a profound impact on Madison’s ability to eat and digest her food. Even though feeding her a meal can usually take about an hour, Maddy is lucky enough to still  be able to enjoy the tastes and textures of her food; and she also loves being part of the family meal time. But, as her condition is regressive, Madison will one day have to be fed through a PEG tube in her stomach.
Because Maddy’s body has to work so hard just to do the little things we take for granted, her immune system is very low so winter time is always a worrying time for us. With the respiratory problems she has, a chesty cough or infection can, and usually does mean a stay in hospital.

But none of this has kept Maddy from going to a mainstream kinder and having fun with her friends and being loved by all who meet her. Next year Madison will go off to school, and it is there that she will need to have her wheelchair with her all the time.  Maddy’s wheelchair is collapsible as we do not have our car modified yet.  She weights 18kg and her wheelchair even when collapsed weighs 28kgs; lifting both her and the chair in and out of the car all of the time has been extremely hard on my back and I am getting to a point where I am unable to go anywhere with Madison by myself as I have difficulty with the transition of both Maddy and the chair.

But most importantly Madison needs to be seated safely and comfortably when travelling by car. The car seat she is using, although appropriate for her age, it is neither supportive enough for her back and neck, nor comfortable enough for her with her condition especially on long trips.

Surviving on a single income, my husband and I have begged and borrowed to obtain the $33,000 needed to purchase the right type of car for the wheelchair conversion; and now we feel devastated that we are struggling to acquire the rest of the funds to modify the vehicle.  This modification is going to cost us approximately $32,000 all up, excluding the cost of transporting the car interstate and the hire of a car for 6 weeks whilst ours is in being converted.

As parents we feel devastated that this financial burden is having such a profound impact on Madison as we don’t want to have her miss out on anything in her short, but very special life.

My husband and I don’t want to have any regrets or ‘what if’s’, but my ability to be able to physically cope with the constant lifting of both Madison and her chair are impacting on our day to day living and I would always regret not being able to provide a full and happy life for Madison if I was not able to get her out to see and experience the world outside her own home.

Traci and Adrian; Madison’s very proud parents”

The cost of the vehicle conversion is $31,368.73  There is a $10,000 grant available to the family via the Victorian Government’s SWEP program, which they have applied for. They have also applied to the Shane Warne Necessitous Fund for assistance.  This appeal seeks to raise $5,000 toward the cost of the vehicle conversion.  And if we can raise more we will.

If you’d like to help Maddy get back on the road safely you can do so by visiting her appeal page.  Thank you for your support.

Australian children’s charity I Give A Buck Foundation of Australia Ltd assists children from disadvantaged families who also suffer from a life-threatening or life-altering illness or condition – with particular focus on terminally ill children.

Troy is now 14 years old and weighs 35Kgs which is a LOT of weight for his 45Kg mum to lift and carry – and at the moment that’s what she’s forced to do with Troy when showering and toileting him because the family have not yet been able to have their bathroom modified to allow wheelchair access for Troy due the cost of such a modification.

Having Troy’s mum lifting him is already dangerous for both of them but it’s about to become out of the question; you see Troy has a scoliosis on his spine which must be fixed very soon.  The surgery will leave Troy with a rod in his spine and for a long recovery period he is simply not allowed to be lifted as this will put excess strain on his spine and could cause further damage.

Troy’s surgery has already been delayed twice while the family desperately tried to raise the $20,000 needed for their bathroom modification but it is best for Troy that it isn’t delayed much longer. Unfortunately, the family is still just under $8,000 short – and that doesn’t even include the cost of the hoist system that will transfer Troy from bed to bathroom to use the shower or toilet.

We’ve committed to raise $5,000 for Troy through this appeal – and if we can manage the entire shortfall we will.

If you’d like to help Troy you can hop straight over to his appeal page to find out how – please do.