April 27, 1999
Help Make SickKids Better Campaign Surpasses $82-Million Goal
Record-breaking $85.8 million campaign assures SickKids' place as world leader in paediatric research and patient care
Toronto, Ont – The goal of raising $82 million for research may have seemed daunting on September 15, 1997 when The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) launched the most ambitious fundraising campaign in its 123-year history. But today, with the campaign successfully completed, it's just one more reminder that SickKids is truly a world leader, and that research is an integral part of improving patient care.
“The Help Make SickKids Better campaign owes its outstanding success to those who rallied around it,” says Al Flood, campaign chair and chairman and chief executive officer of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. “I would like to thank everyone – from my fellow members of the campaign cabinet to the canvassers, staff and donors – who gave of their time and resources to ensure the health of children around the world will continue to be improved through the important research and education that takes place at SickKids.”
The investments in education and research made possible by the $85.8 million raised will benefit people worldwide for years to come. Nineteen endowed academic chairs have been funded since the campaign's inception. The establishment of endowed chairs is a fundamental way of securing funding in perpetuity for key areas of research, including both basic science and clinical research in such areas as genetics, nursing, psychiatry, immunology, and neonatology. Prior to the campaign, there were no endowed chairs at SickKids.
Funds raised during the campaign also enabled the opening of The Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain Tumour Research Centre, a collaborative, state-of-the-art research laboratory that links the research of the University of Toronto and Toronto Western Hospital with SickKids.
A Research Training Centre was also established as a result of the campaign, increasing the number of graduate students and post-doctoral fellows the hospital can fund. There has been an increase in the number of disciplines and specialties in which researchers can receive funding, so that basic science and medical research continue to be supported, along with research from other health care professions, such as social work and nursing.
The Hospital for Sick Children marked the conclusion of the overwhelmingly successful campaign with a day-long celebration involving staff, volunteers, patients and their families. Al Flood presided over the campaign finale festivities, where he was made an honorary SickKids scientist and officially opened the “Main Street Science Fair”, which highlighted some of the research done at SickKids. With the help of a few young patients, he then undertook his first genetic scientific experiment. Mr Flood will also host a reception for the campaign volunteers and donors on the 56 th Floor of the CIBC this evening.
Public Affairs
The Hospital for Sick Children
555 University Avenue
Suite 1742, Public Affairs, First floor Atrium
Toronto,
ON
M5G 1X8
Canada
Phone: 416-813-5058
Fax: 416-813-5328