The Slaight Family Foundation announces $1,000,000 pledge to The Children's Wish Foundation of Canada!

The Children's Wish Foundation of Canada

TORONTO, Feb. 10, 2016 /CNW/ - The Slaight Family Foundation has announced they will be donating $1,000,000 over a four-year period to The Children's Wish Foundation of Canada as part of their Children and Youth Initiative. This donation is the largest pledge in Children's Wish history and will provide tremendous support for the newly launched More Wishes, More Wonders Campaign across Canada. This exciting announcement was made at 11:00a.m., today at Daniels Spectrum in the Regent Park neighbourhood.

The Slaight Family Foundation is working in partnership with 11 national organizations to provide new or expanded services to improve the physical, mental and social well-being of children in Canada. Children's Wish is honoured to be included in this charitable initiative and is grateful for the support of The Slaight Family Foundation to expand our wish granting capabilities. 

"We hope these gifts provide them with the resources to help children lead healthy, successful and positive lives.  We would also encourage others to support these national initiatives for the betterment of Canadian children and youth," said Gary Slaight, President and CEO of Slaight Family Foundation.

As the largest and only all-Canadian wish granting charity, with over thirty years of granting 23,000 of the most heartfelt wishes of children with life-threatening illnesses, Children's Wish is now expanding its reach to include children with serious neurological and genetic diagnoses. These at-risk children have complex care and mobility challenges and are dependent on their families for their day-to-day activities. Thanks in part to the generous support of The Slaight Family Foundation, granting wishes to this new group of deserving children is now becoming a reality.      

Advances in medicine and technology are now making it possible for children with these diagnoses to survive into young adulthood.  But while science may have extended their lives, these children and their families face incredible challenges as they struggle with the need for constant care and hospitalization, as well as severe special needs and developmental delays. Through field work and strong medical community partnerships, Children's Wish has responded to this real and urgent request.

"It's an opportunity for the entire family to be together, to spend a day where the entire focus is on their enjoyment, on making memories and doing things that are really exciting and wonderful without having the focus be on the child and the medical complexity," says Dr. Jeremy Friedman, Associate Pediatrician-in-Chief at Sick Kids Hospital and Children's Wish Medical Advisor.

To learn more about how Children's Wish is expanding its mission to include an emerging population of complex-care children, watch the video at http://www.childrenswish.ca/morewishesmorewonderscampaign/

The Children's Wish Foundation of Canada

The Children's Wish Foundation of Canada is dedicated to granting wishes to Canadian children between the ages of 3 and 17 who are diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. This year, Children's Wish expects to grant over 1,000 new wishes across the country with the help of volunteers and generous donors; that is approximately three wishes each and every day, all year long.  Each child's heartfelt wish is carefully structured to meet the particular needs of the child and their family.

Already this year, we are experiencing unprecedented increases of wish referrals through our strong medical community relationships for our wishes granted to children with life-threatening illnesses. Now more than ever, we are encouraging Canadians to donate and support Children's Wish to help us continue to grant the next most heartfelt wish. Children's Wish is a national charity with chapters in every province and territory.

Visit www.childrenswish.ca/morewishesmorewonderscampaign for more information and to donate.

Interviews with Wish families across Canada can be scheduled upon request.

SOURCE The Children's Wish Foundation of Canada

Image with caption: "One of Mady's Mom's fondest memories on their trip to Disney was seeing her daughter so cheerful and lively. She says during their visit, "Mady didn't have a single seizure. She just kept laughing and looking at Mary Poppins." Mady (beside), age 6, has severe cerebral palsy, during her Disney Wish (shown here with her favourite character, Mary Poppins) (CNW Group/The Children's Wish Foundation of Canada)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160210_C4816_PHOTO_EN_617981.jpg

Lorelei Wilkinson, National Senior Manager, Major Giving, The Children's Wish Foundation of Canada | National Office, t: 647-725-6122 | f: 905-839-6890, [email protected]