Help replace pain and fear with joy and laughter on Starlight Day

| May 6, 2016

Friday 6 May is Starlight Day. Karen Kennedy from the Starlight Children’s Foundation urges all Australians to help keep Captain Starlight and Starlight Express Room programs in every children’s hospital in the country open seven days a week to support more sick children.

Did you know every minute of every day, a child is admitted to hospital in Australia?

Over the years numerous studies have shown that when a child or adolescent lives with a serious illness and ongoing hospitalisation it impacts the entire family’s ability to participate in every day opportunities that play an essential role in their day-to-day wellbeing.

For this reason Starlight works in partnership with health professionals to support a child’s ‘total care’ – so while health professionals focus on treating a child’s illness, Starlight is there to lift their spirits. Through our hospital programs such as Starlight Express Rooms and Captain Starlight, we use distractive therapies to replace pain, fear and stress with fun, joy and laughter.

Starlight’s programs are uniquely Australian and found in every children’s hospital in the country. Last year we supported over 185,000 seriously ill children and their families. But this isn’t enough.

This year, we need to open four new Starlight Express Rooms in Darwin, Sydney, Perth and Melbourne to meet increasing demand.

This Starlight Day, Friday 6 May, we’re urging all Australians to get involved and join Starlight ambassadors Hayden Quinn, Neil Perry and Herb Faust to help us raise $1.3 million that will support more than 33,000 seriously ill children and their families who urgently need Starlight’s support.

To help us reach our fundraising target, we’re inviting friends, families or workmates to register to host a StarBQ – a special fundraising barbeque for Starlight. StarBQs can be held anytime during May or June and are the perfect opportunity to bring people together to fundraise, and make a real difference to children and families living with serious illness.

More than two thousand purple and yellow-clad volunteers will also be hitting the streets across the country on Starlight Day to sell Starlight merchandise and collect donations in shopping centres, central business districts and train stations – so keep an eye out on Friday!

Starlight Day is all about raising funds to keep our uniquely Australian Captain Starlight and Starlight Express Room programs in every children’s hospital in the country open seven days a week, so that Starlight can support more children.

We rely solely on the generosity of the community to help us deliver and evolve our innovative hospital programs. Whether through volunteering, hosting a Star-BQ or simply making a donation, your support is very much needed and appreciated.

To find out more about Starlight Day and full details of our programs, please visit www.starlight.org.au, or join the conversation online using #starlightday #snagasmile.

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