I love it when regular people — moms and dads and kids — get passionate about helping others.
My friend Daphne Ling of the blog Mother Inc., together with her husband (my former colleague) Kelvin, have been inspired to do something for kids with cancer.
Having to face cancer when you are in your 40s is quite different from being a cancer patient when you are barely old enough to buy a kopi. I only have God to thank for the fact that I’ve never had to cross that bridge of either being a child with cancer or having one.
As Daphne writes: “Childhood cancer isn’t something we like to think about, because it’s scary and it makes you feel helpless and thankful all at the same time. It’s not something that’s within our control, like we can prevent it by feeding only organic food or taking more multivites. We don’t know why it happens to kids and how we can stop it from happening. So we hope and pray that our kids stay strong and healthy and that we don’t ever have to sit in the doctor’s office to hear those scary words, ‘I’m sorry, it’s cancer.’
“Some parents have been through that, though. More than a thousand of them. According to the Childhood Cancer Registry, 1,103 children were diagnosed with cancer between 1997 and 2005 in Singapore, with more than half below the age of 5. That’s over a thousand parents being told that their kids have cancer.
“For them, happy days are hard to come by. They’re happy if their kid makes it through another round of chemotherapy or even just another day without puking or needles or mood swings or pain.”
Mother Inc. is doing its part for 30 kids with cancer on 31 October. It will be a mini carnival at Hort Park, with mascots, balloon sculptors, face painting, magic shows, a truckload of balloons and tons of more cool stuff, and Daphne and Kelvin are calling it HAPPEE DAY. Daphne had gone to the Children’s Cancer Foundation to ask if there was anything she could do for these kids and she was told: “How about organizing an event to bring a little joy to them and give them a reason to smile, even if it’s just for a while?”
What you can do:
1. Be there and volunteer.
Mother Inc. needs help with the logistics, carnival booths and most of all, to make friends with the families who are attending the event. Bring your kids, who will have a blast at the carnival and they’ll get to make some new friends at the same time. Also, if you have some ideas or skills (like if you can eat fire or juggle chainsaws or sing with helium) that you would like to contribute, just email her at daphne@motherinc.org.
2. Donate.
If you can’t make it down but would like to help anyway, you can do so by donating to the Children’s Cancer Foundation. They provide financial aid to families who struggle with the burden of chemotherapy treatments and surgeries and your donations will go a long way in showing that you care. You can donate anytime from now until 31 October. Give a little and make someone’s day a little happier.
3. Pass on the message.
You can do like me and publicise HAPPEE DAY on your blog. Blog about the event and share it with your readers, tweet about it, share in on Facebook (you can use my share buttons at the bottom right hand of the page) tell other moms you know, shout it from the rooftops.
Just to be clear, proceeds from the fund-raising go directly to the Children’s Cancer Foundation and not to the running of this event. Mother Inc. is riding on sponsorships and personal donations for that.
Help Mother Inc. make 31 Oct a HAPPEE DAY for the kids from CCF!
Go to Mother Inc. for updates and further details.
A Clean Breast Of It 