WHAT started out as a small fundraising venture by Lake Macquarie schools snowballed into a state-wide phenomenon which has raised more than $16,000.
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The Cupcakes for Kids with Cancer campaign culminated recently in Morisset Park schoolgirl Jacinta Gomez presenting a cheque for $16,050 to the John Hunter Children’s Hospital Paediatric Oncology Ward.
Jacinta, 12, was diagnosed with leukaemia in April.
It has meant undergoing lengthy treatment, including chemotherapy, at the hospital in Newcastle.
The cupcakes campaign was launched by local school teachers Therese Blair (of Bonnells Bay Public School) and Tracie Brown (Cooranbong Public School) as a show of support for Jacinta and her parents Rick and Kirsten Gomes (a teacher at Wyee Public School).
The idea was for schools in the Western Shores Learning Alliance (WSLA) to get on board, and bake and sell cupcakes to raise money for the hospital.
The Cupcakes for Kids with Cancer fund was set up, and promoted on Facebook.
It soon grew into something that nobody saw coming.
Schools from around the state, as well as businesses and sporting clubs began to contact the campaign organisers offering to add their baking and selling skills to the cause.
“With the help of the community and, in particular, the schools and sporting clubs, we raised a total of $16050,” Ms Gomez said this week.
“The response from everyone was amazing and they were quite happy to help out knowing that the money was going to be used to assist more than one patient.”
The money will go into the Paediatrics Oncology Trust to be used in the paediatric oncology ward.
“Jacinta has been asked to write a list of things that she would like bought to make life easier for the patients during admissions. At the top of her list is cushions for the teen retreat to make it more comfortable,” Ms Gomez said.
“We have also discussed internet availability in the paediatric oncology day unit, when visits for treatment can blow out to a whole day.
“This would allow patients to watch their own programs and play online games to keep occupied.”
The money has come at a particularly good time for the hospital.
“They are currently nearing the end of renovations of the ward. There are two rooms that haven’t been started yet and need things like X-Boxes and the like for patients,” Ms Gomez said.
“The response from the community was truly heart warming and something we’d love to harness again next year to raise funds for the ward again.”
Ms Gomez said the hospital staff were very deserving of the community’s support.
“They are truly an amazing breed up there at the hospital. They make a very bleak diagnosis bearable, and take all the burden of treatments and the effects off families’ shoulders,” she said.