OPACC Winter 2016 Newsletter

Winter 2016

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OPACC NEWS

(Photo courtesy Kara Bradimore of Telescopical Photography)

Our OPACC Christmas Party on December 10th was a huge success thanks to the generosity of our partner and host, the Cancer Recovery Foundation of Canada (CRFC)! Over 25 OPACC families had a memorable, fun-filled evening featuring a delicious buffet dinner, crafts, a visit from CRFC's "Hugs the Bear," a magic show, and a special visit from Santa, who handed out gifts to every child in attendance!

View photos of the event (scroll down to the bottom of the page)

(Our Parent Liaison, Susan, at the press conference on Jan. 18th)

Find out about OPACC's involvement in the recent Provincial hospital parking policy announcement

Be sure to check out our list of "Helpful Links" and resources available for childhood cancer families - called by one parent "the most comprehensive list of helpful links that I have seen."

OPACC continually seeks to update our ongoing list of community cancer support resources throughout Ontario, but we need your help! What cancer support resources do you know of that exist in YOUR local community? Please contact us via the contact form at the bottom of the "Helpful Links" page (click button below) and let us know!

View links

(Volunteers at an Inside Ride event)

Interested in volunteering with OPACC? There are many ways that you can help and now you can even fill out your volunteer application online!

Volunteer information

(Markham group Facilitators Mansour and Jackie)

Families in York Region are welcome to join our newest parent support group in Markham!

Learn more

Facebook

Twitter

Remember to follow us on Facebook and/or Twitter for the latest breaking news and announcements in between receiving our quarterly newsletters!

THANK YOU

To The McLean Foundation for their $2,000 grant to OPACC in support of our parent and family support services!

To everyone who contributed by supporting our Inside Ride 2015 event, which raised a grand total of $18,123.00 (this amount also includes the in-store fundraising done by local New York Fries restaurants)!

Special thanks to the Coast to Coast Against Cancer Foundation for making this event possible and for supporting our work throughout the years by providing additional funds to continue our Parent Liaison program!

To Global's Susan Hay for the wonderful story on her "Making a Difference" segment that aired in November featuring our amazing partner Cancer Recovery Foundation of Canada and our very own Parent Liaison Susan!

To our awesome partner Million Dollar Smile s (MDS), who delivered Bearhug bears and gift cards to families at Sick Kids in December!

To Mr. Nelson Picard for his well-attended and well received presentation on "The Mindful Parent" in December, part of our "Lunch and Learn" series at Sick Kids.

We plan to have more of these engaging, informative, and interactive special presentations throughout 2016! For discussion themes and/or guest speaker suggestions, please fill out our quick survey.

To Dean Robev, Store Manager at Sobeys Todmorden (1015 Broadview Avenue, East York) for his ongoing commitment to providing donations of healthy snack options for our Sick Kids drop-ins!

And many thanks also to our volunteer Anna T. for making this happen!

To Starbucks Canada for their continuing support of OPACC by donating coffee, tea, and treats to our drop-ins, meetings and workshops, and community support groups!

To Sarah Mueller at The Design Truth for donating her graphic design services!

To Childhood Cancer Canada Foundation for allowing us the continued use of their teleconference number for our meetings!

OTHER NEWS OF INTEREST

February 15th was International Childhood Cancer Day. Learn more here. In honour of childhood cancer awareness, a special song called "We Are One" was created by nearly a million children from around the world. Learn more here.

A new "by families, for families" Resource Guide for Families Facing Childhood Cancer created by the Haematology/Oncology Family Advisory Council at Sick Kids is now available here.

Sick Kids is seeking participants for a study about anxiety and fatigue in children with cancer - read more here.

The Government of Canada has increased the duration of the Employment Insurance compassionate care benefit - read more here.

The Pediatric Oncology Exercise Manual (POEM) aims to inspire and promote an active lifestyle for children with cancer in order to help them counteract cancer treatment side effects and achieve a better quality of life. Download your free copy here.

The next "Kids Being Kids" day at C.J. Skateboard Park & School is on Saturday, March 5th - a free morning of fun for childhood cancer families! Click here for a flyer with more information.

After 10 years, the Smiling Eyes Project is shutting down as of March 1st. The Smiling Eyes Project is a non-profit group of professional photographers offering complimentary photo shoots to individuals and families facing cancer. Many OPACC families enjoyed making beautiful memories with Smiling Eyes over the years. Read more here.

Attention OPACC families in the Aurora, Newmarket, and Georgina areas! Are you in need of help around the house (i.e. contracting help such as painting, gardening, carpentry, plumbing, etc.) and are available at home on Thursday, May 12th? If so, read here for more information.

The SuperSibs program has a variety of helpful, FREE online resources for parents and siblings of children with cancer

FREE online Childhood Cancer Resource Library

HOW OPACC HELPS YOU

Family Support Services: Our Parent Liaison program at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto offers families of children with cancer a wealth of FREE information and resources!
Community Development: OPACC works in collaboration with others across Ontario to build a network of community-based Parent Support Groups to ensure that families are supported both in hospital as well as back in their local communities. OPACC also provides training sessions for new Parent Facilitators.
Advocacy: Check our website's History page for some of the important topics that OPACC has and continues to advocate for through our work in partnership with other childhood cancer organizations from across the Province and at the national level.

HOW YOU CAN HELP OPACC

OPACC is an independent registered charity; while we often partner with other organizations to provide services to our families, our programs are managed separately. OPACC receives no government funding and all funding for the development of our programs, services and special events (which are provided at no cost to our families) comes from the donations of generous organizations, businesses, foundations, and individuals. Below, please find some ways that you can give back to help us continue helping our families!

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