Belinda needed a supportive chair that would allow her to sit and eat comfortably at the family table.

Until now, Belinda’s widowed mother either sat her 9 y.o. daughter on her lap during meal times, or held her from the side to keep her balanced on the dining chair while feeding her at the same time… we thought they both deserved better than that and the perfect solution was a Rifton Activity Chair .

It took a little longer to raise the $4,300 needed than we’d hoped, but 7 weeks after launching her appeal we’ve finally done it!

Many thanks to everyone who gave their buck along the way!

In October 2011 we launched Maddy’s Car Appeal to help raise the almost $30,000 needed to modify the family car to be wheelchair accessible for Maddy.  With the help of the members of this wonderful I Give A Buck Community and the amazing team at Melbourne’s Gold 104 radio station, the funds were raised and the car was off to NSW for its modifications!

Recently, we received an update from Maddy’s family and a few photos too and we’d like to share that with you all…

Hi Barb & Liat

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!

Some great news for you both, we finally have our car back and Maddy can now be driven around comfortably and safely in her wheelchair.

It took quite some time to do, twice as long as they originally told us (12 weeks instead of 6!) but its all over and done with.

Maddy seems quite impressed with her new seating position and it is a dream come true for me as I can now take her out and not worry about how my back is going to be feeling at the end of the day.

The transition time getting her in and out of the car is remarkably fast as well, I can’t believe how little time is needed to dock the wheelchair, put her brakes and seat belt on and then away we go.

No more lifting her in and out of the wheelchair and squeezing her into that horrid car seat, those days are now behind us. YEAH!

Our many heartfelt thanks goes out to all the loyal staff at IGAB and to all those kind and generous people who donated to Maddy’s appeal; on behalf of our entire family we say thank you once again!

Without the immense support that Maddy received from the public this would not have ever been possible.

Adrian and I feel an overwhelming sense of relief that this major hurdle has been overcome and we would like to pass on our sincerest gratitude to all those who contributed.

THANK YOU EVERYONE!

All the very best,

Traci, Adrian, Madison and Josh.

If you were one of the special people that made this family’s dream come true, take a bow! And, if you weren’t part of our community back then but would like to share in the love, hop on over to make the same dream come true by giving a buck to Harry and to Zac.

Great work again people!

Barb Blashki – Founder

One of our lovely members, Linda, has this tip for families looking to fund a wheelchair accessible vehicle.

“Perhaps you can share with families that Variety will grant up to $10,000 towards the cost of modifications to a vehicle, or towards the cost of an already modified vehicle.

I am in NSW and our family has been very fortunate to benefit from a grant.

Linda”

Thank you Linda – we’re always happy to pass on helpful tips like this one for our families

In the short two and a bit years since we launched publicly we’ve helped to fund three wheelchair vehicles or vehicle modifications – and we are currently running Harry’s Appeal to get Harry back on the road too.

It’s a hard slog.  On average, $40,000 is needed each time. In the first three occasions each of the families had some major support behind them and that, combined with the efforts of our wonderful IGAB community, made sure that the appeal targets were raised in less than 2 months for each.

We know that funding for wheelchair accessible vehicles, or modifications to the existing family car to enable wheelchair access is a major issue for families across the country. There is no government funding at all for the purchase of the vehicle and only VIC offers any funding support for a vehicle modification – and that’s just $10,000, well short of what’s needed.

No charities or welfare organisation in Australia fund vehicles either.

There are so many families so desperate for help and we’d love to find a way of doing that but it would seem that our membership is just too small at present.

When we received Harry’s application late last year we knew that the family had a little support from their local community, but nowhere near the level enjoyed by the previous three families, and so we thought it was time to test how we might go with trying to fund the full cost of the vehicle ourselves through our normal appeal process.

Seven weeks after launching Harry’s Appeal to raise $55,000 we’ve raised just $12,500.  That’s a pretty clear indication to us that, for whatever reason, we are not in a position to successfully run appeals for such large amounts yet.

We are going to continue with Harry’s Appeal until it’s finished, and today sees the launch of Zac’s Appeal (for the last $5,000 needed for a vehicle modification) but we have regrettably decided that we can no longer accept applications for funding for wheelchair accessible vehicles or vehicle modifications.

We’ll be keeping the issue on our radar though. Once we think that our membership has grown to a level that might better support such appeals we’ll give it another shot but I’d imagine that to be at least 2 years away.

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.

Enabling parents to have some much needed time away from the pressures of caring for their little ones 24 hours a day can mean the difference between them coping or not coping with the physical and psychological demands that come into play when you have a child with high dependency needs.

Funding in-home nursing care for children is one of the ways that we can support parents in their hour of need, give them some breathing space, get them out of the house and enable them to have some time as a couple – all things vital to maintaining the stability of the family unit.

We funded over $10,000 of respite care in 2011 and have just funded $154.40 for 4 hours of in-home nursing for Jocelyn today.

We use grant funding (when we have it) General Donations and occasionally funds in our Emergency Fund (for eligible children) to pay for these nursing services.  If you’d like to help support families in this most important way, you can make a  donation to our Emergency Fund 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.

Meet cute little 4 y.o. Piper from Kalorama VIC.  With her identical twin sister Ruby, you could be looking in a mirror.  Quite literally in fact as the girls are “mirror image” twins (Piper is right handed – Ruby left, Piper has amblyopia in her right eye – Ruby has it in her right.  It’s even the same for their personalities and likes & dislikes!)

The biggest difference between them though is that at 2 years of age Piper was diagnosed with cerebral palsy – spastic diplegia.

It’s very hard for Piper to be mobile – she uses AFOs (ankle foot orthotics) and a special Walker to get around, but tires easily and has lots of ‘spectacular but graceful falls!’ according to her mum Stef.

When we met Piper in Dec 2011, over the past year, Piper had become increasingly aware that she was less mobile than her peers. This was especially true when she saw her sister and cousins whizzing around on their bikes.

Then Piper’s world was turned upside down when she was given the opportunity to try a specially adapted bike.  She had so much fun she couldn’t stop smiling and didn’t want to get off.  Mum Stef said she’d been talking ever since about how clever she was to ride ‘all on her own’!

Her physio recommended that this type of bike would be of significant benefit to Piper’s ongoing physical health (not to mention the wonderful joy it would bring!), as would a Second Skin / lateral body splint suit – which would greatly support her core stability and have a significant impact on her ability to access both her home and kinder environments – enabling her to participate in a greater range of play experiences.

Piper’s Appeal raised the $3,491 needed to fund her special bike and Second Skin suit in just 15 days. Go Piper!

Meet Amy.  Amy has what is thought to be a very rare genetic condition – so rare that doctors have so far been unable to give a 100% diagnosis.

What they do know is that Amy has a type of neurological condition that affects her muscle control.  Amy can’t walk and suffers from abnormal movements and core stability problems.

In 2010, when just 18 months old, Amy’s medical team had recommended that she be fitted with a body splint – called a Second Skin Suit.  This suit would give Amy greater independence in upright positions such as standing and sitting.  She’d wear it every day, allowing her muscles to work better and get stronger.  It was hoped that it would also help to reduce Amy’s involuntary, abnormal movements.

Amy’s suit cost $1,960 and we were thrilled to be able to fund that suit for Amy thanks to the generosity of our wonderful I Give A Buck community and some grant funding from Australian Unity Foundation.

Amy’s skin suit literally changed her life.

For the first time ever she could sit unaided and could see a totally different perspective of the world around her.  It helped her posture so much that she was able to eat food without it having to be pureed first.  And she loves it!  Amy had been in danger of having to have a PEG feeding tube inserted into her tummy, so this was a fantastic bonus for her.

In August 2011 Amy’s physiotherapist suggested that an iPad would be really useful for Amy to help develop her communication skills. We were only too happy to provide Amy with an iPad through our iPads for Priority Kids Program. The touch screen functionality of the iPads are ideal for children with muscle tone issues who would never be able to use a traditional keyboard.  There are some absolutely terrific learning and development apps designed for children too. Have fun Amy!

And now, we’ve just finished another appeal for Amy and raised the $1,990 needed for Amy’s next suit. Go Amy!

Nine year old Sophie suffers from Rett Syndrome – an untreatable, incurable degenerative condition that affects just 1 in every 10,000 girls.

When we met Sophie in November 2011 she had many physical symptoms including an inability to sleep, ongoing pain, ongoing itching, seizures, loss of limb control, and an inability to eat normally requiring her to be fed via a tube in her tummy.  She couldn’t talk but could communicate her likes and dislikes with sounds.

Sophie was dependent on 24 hour care, provided by her devoted parents.

Sophie’s pain could often be alleviated by immersing her body in warm water and her pain management team at The Royal Children’s Hospital in Brisbane had recommended that the family modify their bathroom to incorporate a modified bath and the appropriate hoists to safely lift Sophie in and out and to support her whilst she is in it.

Sophie’s family had done an amazing job so far in their efforts to raise the $12,820.50 needed for the bathroom modifications. They raised:

• $6,993 from St Vincent de Paul Society Queensland’s Home Maintenance & Modification Program
• $1,900 with the help of the Helensvale Scouts who walked from Palm Beach to Surfers’ Paradise
• $1,300 with the help of Lollipop’s Playland at Springwood who ran a disco
• $500 from their local chaplain service

That only left $2,127.50 and we were only too pleased to launch this appeal and the funds were raised in just a couple of weeks.

How gorgeous does she look in this photograph?  You’d never pick from looking at her that Emma has a rare and unusual condition, you see five year old Emma, from Cranbourne, VIC, hasn’t eaten any solid food for 4 years. 

Having been born prematurely, weighing just 510 grams, Emma was initially tube fed at hospital and then subsequently developed further medical issues (including chronic lung disease), that required further ongoing supportive tube feeding, which set back the limited progress she had made onto solid foods and has left her with a severe aversion to food. So severe that even the smallest crumb in her mouth causes her an extreme amount of distress. 

Emma has been assessed by specialists at the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne and Monash Medical Centre, and has participated in specialised joint feeding programs – all of which have been unsuccessful in overcoming her food aversion. So Emma has needed to obtain all her nutrition via specialised formulas.  She will lick certain foods such as rice crackers, but will not actually ingest them. 

Her medical team and her family have reached the end of the road and are at a loss at what to do next. Her doctors have never seen a child with such a severe food aversion as Emma suffers.  There are no programs or organisations in Australia that can offer further help to her Emma’s family has exhausted all possibly avenues. 

With her weight on a continuous down-slide, keeping up an adequate calorie intake for her is not proving to be possible.  Emma is tiny for her age, not registering on the standard medical charts in either growth or height. Specialists have been unable to tell Emma’s family what the full impact will be on Emma’s quality of life in years to come.

As a parent, you’ll travel to the ends of the earth for your children – and this is close to what Emma’s family are going to need to do to give her a shot at a ‘normal’ life.

Emma’s treating team have now identified a specialised program for children such as Emma in Graz, Austria www.notube.at  which has an incredible success rate. Emma’s paediatrician has recommended that ideally she undergo this intense treatment prior to starting school next year to avoid social stigmatization and related difficulties with feeding her formula at school. 

However, with the cost of the program is approximately $24,000 and airfares for Emma and her mum will be approx $5,000 – and $29,000 is not something that Emma’s family can afford. 

We think that Emma should have this once in a life-time opportunity to get her condition treated in time for school next year and we’re going to do everything possible to allow that to happen.

If you‘d like to help Emma, simply hop over to her Appeal page and scroll down to the bottom of the page to make your donation.

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.