ADAPTING IN THE FACE OF ADVERSITYJULY 2020 UPDATE Dear Friend,Over the past few months, we have all struggled with the challenges of isolation. Those with school-age children have seen just how hard it can be to sustain home-based learning, and how important social interaction with friends and teachers is to a child's well-being and happiness. Imagine the weight of that isolation, on a child already dealing with the trauma of a cancer diagnosis. These children experience long absences from school and are unable to attend due to their weakened immune system. LOVE, NILS recently received a direct request from Professor Allen Yeoh Eng Juh, Head of NUH Oncology Paediatrics, to help develop a program to support the educational needs of these children. We are excited to announce our Education Support Program to provide one-to-one specialised weekly tutoring sessions to support these patients in their home and the hospital, online or in-person. Last year, we ran a successful pilot program to give it a test run and saw huge successes with our kids. Check out one of our Ambassadors, Darshan, reading for the first time! We need your help. To make this dream a reality, we need to raise $120,000 to provide one year of licensed education to 40+ children with cancer who are unable to attend school full time. Donate today and make a difference in these young kid's lives! CAN'T KEEP US AWAYSince we have been unable to host our annual Toy Drop, we have adapted. Twice monthly we deliver over 300 new toys to KKH and NUH children's oncology wards via our friendly staff. Check out a video of one of our happy recipients here! These toy drops have been especially important during this season of the unknown, while human interaction is minimal and activities have practically come to a standstill. We are finishing up the last of our toy drops this month and will notify you when we start collecting new toy donations for the next round. SOME GOOD NEWS!We are honoured to be featured in the first issue of WOMAN magazine from The Edge Singapore. Thank you to our feature writer Pauline Wong for sharing our story so eloquently! Check out the full article here. “Our core work is to be a beacon of hope and light for kids who are struggling with cancer and their caregivers. I think our mission is to empower them to encourage them with social community support and psychological support. And we do that in ways that I feel would work, as a mother of a child with cancer.” - Lesli Berggren #STAYHOME ART KITSDuring these days of social-distancing, we are getting creative with our Art Therapy program and have rolled out our #StayHome Art Kits. We have been delivering these packages of art supplies and projects to our LOVE, NILS kids' homes while they are staying in and staying safe. “Thank you for the toys and art & craft materials. It brings fun and joy to my child. She is happier and more willing to interact with nurses and accept her treatment and stay in the ward. Greatly appreciate the donations from LOVE, NILS making a huge difference for her journey to recovery.” - Patient's mother, a LOVE, NILS beneficiary
DONOR SPOTLIGHTIfeoma Ubby, OliveAnkara Our community continues to amaze us. A huge thank you to Ify and her fabulous local fashion brand OliveAnkara for donating $500 and 40 of their gorgeous African print masks. It’s people like this that keep us going! For your own beautiful mask and to support a local fashion label, shop on the OliveAnkara website. If you would like to partner with us to help fundraise, shoot us a message and let’s work together. WELCOME NEW BOARD MEMBERS! The "Dream Team" just keeps getting better. We are welcoming two new board members who will help guide us with their knowledge and expertise in the upcoming years. We are honoured to introduce Suvir Varma of Bain & Company (left) and Devon C. Lawrence of Clark Lawrence Consulting (right). With Suvir's 25 years as a management consultant in Singapore and Devon's 10 years at various non-profits, we have the utmost confidence in our strides forward to provide our kids and families with the support they deserve. “Having watched Lesli and the team at LOVE, NILS from the sidelines for years, I am honoured to be asked to join their Board. The organization does amazing work to support children diagnosed with cancer in Singapore and we are looking forward to scaling the program and its impact even further.” -Suvir Varma “I am so proud to be on the Board and support this organization as we continue to deliver on our mission and expand the volume of families we support. My hope is that LOVE, NILS will become the gold star standard for holistic support and that one day that standard is followed by all medical care centres in Singapore. Now more than ever, the comfort of strong foundational support for families and loved ones is unquestionably critical.“ – Devon C. Lawrence |