The first and last Christmas

Dear friends of TLC for kids,

As you know, we do our best to keep things positive and happy, as there is enough doom and gloom that we constantly hear about, however this time I felt it was important to share this particular story with you to highlight the urgency and importance of the fast turn-around time for supporting the children and families we work with.

I often say that each week is like an emotional rollercoaster, but today, unfortunately, it’s on the lower end of that rollercoaster.

We have received a request to help a family celebrate their first and last Christmas with their littlest one, who now won’t make it to her 1st birthday.

Sadly, this is not the first, nor will it be the last, type of request we will be fulfilling. I can only imagine what the family are going through right now.

As I am writing this, we are preparing a number of gifts and anything else we can, to ensure the family can at least capture some Christmas memories of not only their youngest child, but also the other two siblings, who are both under 5 years old.

Words can hardly express how terribly sad this situation is.  The only thing I can say that provides a little bit of hope, is that we have been lucky enough to be there for them during this devastatingly difficult time, and we are able to bring a little happiness, joy and a lasting memory for this very special family.

This year, as we have done for many many years, we are organising Christmas presents for 7 hospitals to ensure (in-patient) sick kids receive a gift on Christmas day. In addition to this, we will continue to provide our RAPID TLC service and TLC Distraction Boxes.

Regardless of who you are, or where you live, we can all make a difference. It doesn’t matter if it’s Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year’s Eve, Easter or any other time of the year, we are supporting families facing this type of tragedy all year round.

I ask you to consider making a donation to us, so that we can continue to provide our critical and immediate support services for so many sick children and their families.

The number of children we can support is directly measured against the funding we receive.

Be part of our Cause to Smile. Donate today and make a difference tomorrow. I know this sounds like a ‘pitch’, but I can assure you, this is exactly how the requests are made and how we act upon them.  I cannot stress enough the impact it makes when support is given when families need it the most.

To make it easier this year, we have just set up an online shop on our website: https://www.tlcforkids.org.au/shop/

Every child is important and every dollar counts – please give what you can.

Thank you.

Tim