Residents in the greater Hornsby region are amongst the most generous in the state for Cole’s appeal to support the Sydney Children’s Hospital in partnership with the Curing Homesickness Foundation. Shoppers in the greater Hornsby area, raised over $27,800 to help the Sydney Children’s Hospital, by purchasing $2 donation cards at Coles stores, contributing to a NSW state total of almost $310,000 in just two weeks. Hornsby raised over $10,000 in two weeks.
Curing Homesickness is a national initiative which brings children’s hospital foundations and paediatric services from across Australia together to get sick kids home from hospital sooner or make their hospital stay easier.
Shoppers across NSW rallied behind the cause to help raise funds for vital needs such as dedicated oncology child life therapists and remote health specialists who help to provide care for children living in rural and remote NSW and can’t easily get to a hospital.
Kellyville mother Barbara, whose nine-year-old daughter Chelsea was suddenly diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and a rare chromosomal cancer, welcomed the funding for child life therapists. Chelsea and her family spent 350 nights in The Children’s Hospital at Westmead in the year that followed, attending 17 general anaesthetics, nine lumbar punctures, eight bone marrow tests, six radiation sessions and 55 blood transfusions.
“The time our family has been separated has been extremely hard. The activities we have all missed out on together, the feeling that part of our daughter’s childhood has been taken away from her, it’s really hard to deal with,” Barbara said.
Sydney Children’s Hospitals Foundation CEO Nicola Stokes thanked Coles customers for digging deep to help support sick kids in hospital.
“I can’t thank Coles shoppers enough for getting behind this important initiative to help sick kids particularly during these challenging times,” she said. “Funds raised will help engage vital health specialists at the Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick and The Children’s Hospital at Westmead to help support sick kids, especially children with cancer and children receiving care who live in regional and remote NSW.”
