SickKids Foundation

Let this be your sign to never let anything hold you back!     Ed Marshall, a 100-year-old World War II Paratrooper took to the skies this weekend and raised over $100K for The Hospital for Sick Children while doing it.     It's been 80 years since his last jump as a paratrooper in the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, but in tandem with fellow Canadian Armed Forces veteran Adam Winnicki, it's like he'd never left.      In honour of his 100th birthday, Ed set himself a goal to raise $100K in support of SickKids - a goal he's now exceeded.     "Kids are our future so we have to look after them." - Ed Marshall     We agree Ed. Thank you for your generous support. 💙 

It’s Grad time! 🎓 For most kids that means school. But for some, it means graduating from The Hospital for Sick Children too. Juliet has a special message for her fellow SickKids grads.

When 17-year-old Maddy was told she might be unable to graduate high school on time due to her numerous hospital admissions, she responded, "Oh yeah, watch me." Maddy spent much of Grades 11 and 12 at SickKids, being treated for Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. Even with severe pain, GI issues, and reduced mobility, she never gave up. From her hospital bed, she continued to study and even wrote an exam while simultaneously preparing for surgery. Despite having to miss her last day of school due to an unexpected hospital admission, last week Maddy attended her high school prom and not only graduated on time but with honours. Graduating high school is a huge achievement for anyone, but for Maddy, it’s a true testament to her strength. In the Fall, Maddy will be heading to university to study science and pursue a career in medicine, to help others facing similar challenges. At school, she will also continue to pursue her passion for dance. Join us in congratulating Maddy and the 2024 graduating class! 🎓 🌟

Please join us in welcoming Piyush Bhatnagar and Desmond D'Silva, our newest volunteer Board members. Both joined our Board in June 2024 and bring a wealth of experience, insights, and knowledge as we prepare to embark on our next fundraising campaign. Piyush is a Senior Managing Director with Accenture and is the Canadian Corporate Citizenship Lead. With a focus on large-scale business and IT transformations within the financial services industry, Piyush's expertise will be invaluable to our business. Desmond is the Founder and CEO of Integricon, a company specializing in Property Restoration and Construction services. Desmond's strong leadership in strategy, governance, and oversight has earned Integricon national recognition, including the Canada’s Best Managed Companies award in 2024. We are grateful for their volunteer commitment and look forward to their contributions as we continue the Heal the Future campaign. Welcome, Piyush and Desmond!

SickKids staff brought their #CaringWithPride spirit to #PrideToronto this past weekend! ✨ 🌈   Participating in the Trans March, Family Pride and Pride Parade — we especially enjoyed running the Care for Your Stuffy clinic at the SickKids Family Pride booth!   #PrideMonth2024 #PrideTO #SickKidsEDI

We are pleased to introduce Walied Soliman, KC as our new Board Chair.  Walied joined the SickKids Foundation Board in 2012 and has served as Vice Chair since 2019. In his new role as Chair, Walied is also appointed to the Board of Trustees at The Hospital for Sick Children.    Walied is the Chair of Norton Rose Fulbright. Widely regarded as one of Canada’s leading corporate lawyers, Walied brings a wealth of experience to our organization that is invaluable for our future ambitions.   As a proud father, Walied has a strong affinity for SickKids and the families we serve. We look forward to his continued valuable contributions and are proud to welcome him to this leadership role. We would also like to acknowledge our outgoing Board Chair, Sonia Baxendale, who has served as Chair since June 2020, guiding us through a period of transformation. Sonia has been a dedicated volunteer leader on our Board for 17 years, leaving a strong legacy as a SickKids champion. Her leadership saw us through the final chapter of the SickKids VS: Limits Campaign, where more than 1.3 million donors raised $1.7 billion to build a new SickKids. She rallied corporate leaders and community philanthropists to our cause, and we are deeply grateful for her incredible generosity and ongoing support.   Please join us in thanking Sonia for her many years of service and congratulating Walied!

We join many in our community who are celebrating Pride this weekend 🏳️🌈 In honour of #PrideMonth, we’re resharing a uniquely SickKids love story. When it comes to love, sometimes you’re caught by surprise.  That was certainly the case for Taylor and Nicole Johnston, who met working as Respiratory Therapists in the ICU at SickKids and quickly became best friends. It wasn’t until a couple years later their friendship evolved into more that they decided to take a leap and see what could happen. Turns out, magic happened. Nicole and Taylor got married in September 2020 (during the COVID-19 pandemic) with only 10 guests in attendance and Sherri, an Administrative Coordinator in the Neonatology and Respiratory Therapy Department, officiating the ceremony.  Now many years, two cats, and a baby later, the couple says it seems like they were fighting fate all along. “In hindsight, when we were friends, we’d always talk about where we would live and work in the future to be close to each other — in some capacity, we always planned to be together forever,” says Nicole. For more of their story: https://lnkd.in/gxcvR42F

SickKids Foundation is proud to honour three exemplary leaders who, after many dedicated years of service, are retiring from our Board of Directors. John Francis, Jake Herman and Christian Lassonde are all longstanding champions of SickKids and its mission, using their wealth of expertise to help guide the organization through some of its most notable achievements and moments. John Francis joined the Foundation’s Board of Directors in 2003, having also served as a member of the Board of Trustees for The Hospital for Sick Children. His outstanding leadership over the course of 21 years of service saw him hold a number of high-profile volunteer commitments within the Foundation. Notably, John served as Chair of the Foundation’s Board of Directors, from 2011 to 2014, and as testament to his expertise, he also stepped up to become SickKids Foundation’s Interim CEO while the organization was in the process of selecting a new leader. John, his family and the Francis Family Foundation have also been generous supporters of SickKids across many initiatives and programs and are recognized as Grand Patrons to SickKids. Jake Herman of Woodbourne Capital Management joined the Board of Directors in 2013. During his 11-year tenure, Jake took on several key critical leadership roles for the organization. Jake and the Herman Family have pledged their time and resources to a variety of initiatives both within the Hospital and the Research Institute and are recognized as Grand Patrons to SickKids. Christian Lassonde joined the Foundation’s Board in 2011, holding a number of strategic oversight roles during his 13-years of service, including Vice Chair of the Board. A visionary donor and leader, Christian has been recognized as a Grand Patron to SickKids, having supported many priority areas. As the Founder and Managing Partner of Impression Ventures, and a serial entrepreneur, Christian was also an ambassador for the Foundation’s #Tech+Biz4SickKids program. We hope you will join us in thanking John, Jake and Christian for their steadfast leadership and outstanding commitment to the cause. We are truly grateful to have counted on their valued expertise throughout the years and look forward to their continued support as Directors Emeriti. #SickKidsVS

“As agents of change, the baton is in our hands,” said Jennifer Bernard, President & CEO of SickKids Foundation, while addressing a room full of passionate Black Experience @ SickKids supporters last week at the Peter Gilgan Centre for Research & Learning (PGCRL). The newly expanded BE@SK Collective aims to improve health outcomes for Black children and youth. With an esteemed panel of The Hospital for Sick Children thought leaders, together with Jennifer Bernard and Dr. Ronald Cohn, President and CEO of SickKids, it was a night to remember and be inspired by. Panelists: Dr. Nomazulu Dlamini, Staff Neurologist, Division of Neurology at SickKids, Dr. Clyde Matava, Staff Anesthesiologist at SickKids, and Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, and Gillian Thompson, Paediatric Nurse Practitioner, delved into several SickKids programs, including the Young Families Program, the Student Advancement and Research (StAR) program and how data inclusive of historically underrepresented patients will help develop and deliver precision health approaches.  A special thank you to the passionate Black Experience @ SickKids Collective for your generosity and dedication to improving Black health outcomes. Together, we are championing the health of Black children and youth and ensuring our vision of Healthier Children. A Better World., actively includes the Black community. Learn more about the Black Experience @ SickKids Collective and how to support Black Health initiatives at SickKids, here: https://bit.ly/4ewloYa      

Today is RBC Charity Day for the Kids, and we are thrilled to celebrate its incredible impact on SickKids patients and families! A huge thank you to RBC Capital Markets for their unwavering support. Through corporate giving, generous employee donations, and grassroots fundraising, they’ve donated over $10 million for SickKids. RBC's commitment has supported the The Hospital for Sick Children highest-priority needs, including innovative programs to help teens with modern mental health challenges. This generosity is fueling our Precision Child Health journey – to diagnose faster, treat smarter and predict better. 💙 #SickKidsVS #RBCCharityDayfortheKids