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.

With less than a week before Christmas we got an update that the girls had raised $68 – which we thought was pretty great. Then, with the help of Lauren’s younger brother James and friend Casey, they donned their Christmas hats and did a final round of the neighbouring streets (with mum Louise) and by the end of the night they’d raised the total to a whopping $167.70!

Louise said that they all had a lovely time and that the expereince was really rewarding for them all – it might even become an annual event!

We think that the kids are pretty special and that the world will be in good hands in the future if there were more kids like these four.  Thanks kids!

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.

…and this time his ankles would be cut, turned and bolted and his tendons cut.

9 year old Bailey from the Melbourne suburb of Berwick is one gutsy little dude. Coming into the world with a rush 8 weeks before he was due, he was later diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy Spastic Diplegia – which for Bailey means uncomfortably stiff and contracted muscles that he has had to contend with each and every day of his life.

In addition, Bailey was born with his two outer fingers missing on his right hand and his thumb and index finger fused together and unbendable.

Bailey has come through some huge challenges. He’s now had 15 operations on his legs, hands, eyes, and bladder, and has had several Botox injections into his muscles to temporarily relieve them from tightening, increase his flexibility and reduce his pain.

It’s imperative that Bailey remains as active as possible, especially after this next operation – otherwise as he gets older permanent tightness of his joints may develop.

At the moment, Bailey sits and watches the kids play on their bikes outside – his little sister Jazz can join in, but Bailey has very poor balance and needs a three wheeler trike. His therapist believes riding is not only one of the best physical therapies for Bailey, but one of the best social ones too. It would allow him to be included with his friends. As his mum Michelle says “the trike would be his legs, his freedom”.

Bailey’s trike cost $804 and we were able to raise that amount in just a few days! His trike was delivered in time for Christams – have fun Bailey!

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.

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!

You’d think 15 operations would be too much for anyone, but at 9 years of age, Bailey is about to have his 16th in January 2012.

…and this time his ankles will be cut, turned and bolted and his tendons cut.

9 year old Bailey from the Melbourne suburb of Berwick is one gutsy little dude.  Coming into the world with a rush 8 weeks before he was due, he was later diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy Spastic Diplegia – which for Bailey means uncomfortably stiff and contracted muscles that he has had to contend with each and every day of his life.

In addition, Bailey was born with his two outer fingers missing on his right hand and his thumb and index finger fused together and unbendable.

Bailey has come through some huge challenges.  He’s now had 15 operations on his legs, hands, eyes, and bladder, and has had several Botox injections into his muscles to temporarily relieve them from tightening, increase his flexibility and reduce his pain.

It’s imperative that Bailey remains as active as possible, especially after this next operation – otherwise as he gets older permanent tightness of his joints may develop.

At the moment, Bailey sits and watches the kids play on their bikes outside – his little sister Jazz can join in, but Bailey has very poor balance and needs a three wheeler trike.  His therapist believes riding is not only one of the best physical therapies for Bailey, but one of the best social ones too.  It would allow him to be included with his friends.  As his mum Michelle says “the trike would be his legs, his freedom”.

Bailey’s trike cost $804.00 and we’ve just raised the money needed to buy it for him!

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.