Mater Little Miracles Easter Appeal
Royal Children's Hospital B105 Christmas Appeal
Royal Children's Hospital Foundation Kids Christmas Appeal
Golden Casket Superdraw - Starlight Children's Foundation donation
Golden Casket Foundation recipients commemorated
  The Mater Little Miracles Easter Appeal commences 22 March 2010 and their aim is to raise $1 million to help babies and children who need special care at the Mater Mothers’ and Children’s Hospital.
Jessica’s story
 When Jessica Simmonds was born at 25 weeks gestation, on 2 January 2008, she was the smallest baby girl ever to be born at the Mater and survive. Jessica weighed a tiny 382 grams.
Jessica’s mum, Karleen, suffered from pre-eclampsia and HELLP syndrome during the pregnancy. HELLP syndrome is a serious complication which occurs in approximately 10 per cent of women with pre-eclampsia and involves a combination of liver and blood disorders.
Karleen first knew something was wrong at 22 weeks gestation when she went to the Logan Hospital for a routine check-up and they found her blood pressure was very high. She was admitted to the Mater Mothers’ Hospital on 23 December for specialist care, where she and her unborn baby could be closely monitored and assessed.
"Coming to the Mater was when life started getting better," said Karleen.
Doctors wanted to keep Jessica in the womb as long as possible to give her lungs a chance to further develop. However, Karleen’s liver was failing, and when Jessica stopped growing, doctors had no choice but to perform an emergency caesarean.
Following her birth, Jessica spent four months in the Mater Mothers’ Neonatal Critical Care Unit (NCCU) fighting for her life.
Karleen recalls there were a couple of times when doctors told her, and her husband Daniel, that Jessica might not make it. Once when she had pneumonia and once when her platelet count dropped.
"When staff told me that Jessica’s platelet count had dropped dangerously low I thought, I have just buried my dad a year ago I’m not going to do that with my daughter," said Karleen.
Karleen and Daniel went to the NCCU to say goodbye to Jessica for what they thought was going to be the last time. However, when they got there they found Jessica’s platelet count had dramatically improved.
"It was a sign that she is fighter and she is meant to be here," said Karleen.
Now 2, Jessica is doing exceptionally well and meeting all of her growth targets. Karleen says she is a very strong willed little girl, a trait that probably got her through the early months.
"Every day we wake up and appreciate that we have this beautiful little girl and realise how lucky we are to have her,” said Karleen.
"Nothing we do will every pay the Mater back for what they have done for us. Not only the medical staff but everyone involved in her care."
Golden Casket is pledging to match each public dollar raised during the appeal, up to $500 000 from unclaimed prize money. Help support the appeal and make a donation at www.materfoundation.org.au.
As per tradition, B105 will run their Christmas Appeal in aid of the Royal Children's Hospital Foundation to raise money for sick kids in Queensland in December 2009. Golden Casket is proud to be a partner in this event once again.
  Golden Casket has today pledged to match each public donation made to the B105 Christmas Appeal, two dollars for every one dollar donated, from unclaimed prize money up to $1 million. This means that every dollar given will effectively be tripled.
 The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation works wonders for sick kids all year round, particularly at Christmas when many children remain in hospital away from family and friends. Christmas can be a challenging time, but The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation, supported by sponsors like Golden Casket, does everything it can to bring the joy, love and hope of Christmas to many young lives.
Through essential fund raising events like the B105 Christmas Appeal, the Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation is able to fund state-of-the-art equipment and innovative research at the Royal Children’s Hospital. Funds also ensure sick kids have a much better Christmas. For more information visit www.workingwonders.com.au
The Royal Children's Hospital Foundation together with hospital foundations in Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, and Sunshine Coast are partnering with the Prime Radio network across those regions as well as Rockhampton, Gladstone, Noosa, Gympie and Caboolture to hold the Kids Christmas appeal to help sick kids right across Queensland.
Golden Casket has pledged to match $1 for every $1 publicly donated to the appeal from Golden Casket proceeds up to $100 000. This means that every dollar given will effectively be doubled.
Why Does a Brisbane Based Hospital Run a Regional Appeal? Every year, the Royal Children’s Hospital is called on more than 280 000 times to care for 30 000 sick kids from all over Queensland. More than 60% of these children come from regional and remote areas and are transported to the Royal Children’s Hospital for specialist care. Money raised from the Kids Christmas Appeal will be used for innovative research at the Royal Children’s Hospital and for grants for the purchase of medical equipment in regional centres.
For more information visit www.workingwonders.com.au
  For every entry sold into the Gold Lotto $20 Million Superdraw on March 28, 2009, Golden Casket donated 50c to the Starlight Children's Foundation, totalling $563,665 from profits. The donation will go towards helping the Starlight Children’s Foundation brighten the lives of seriously ill children such as Morgan.
Morgan was born with a brittle bone disorder and has suffered hundreds of breaks and fractures that can be very painful and difficult to heal.
She has spent months in hospital to get the care she needs. Suffering through countless operations and being separated from her family is hard to deal with. But thanks to the Starlight Children’s Foundation, there are times where she can forget about the pain and smile and laugh like a normal kid should.
 That’s why their work is so important. Starlight do so much to brighten the lives of seriously ill children and help their families cope in stressful times. Their programs make a meaningful difference to people’s lives when they need it most.
Queensland Children’s Medical Research Institute (QCRMI)
Paediatric research is the key to reducing childhood illness and injury, and to helping sick kids recover more quickly. The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation is dedicated to improving children’s lives by funding research into accident and illness prevention, faster diagnoses, better treatments and ultimately cures for a wide range of medical conditions.
The Golden Casket donation from unclaimed prize money will directly support the Queensland Children's Medical Research Institute (QCMRI), Queensland’s first research facility devoted solely to the health of children and adolescents. Directed by Professor Keith Grimwood, the centre aims to become an independent source of scientific expertise on children’s health by providing world class opportunities for medical research and teaching to attract and retain the best medical and scientific minds.
The QCMRI brings together the main research streams including burns, nutrition, cancer, online health, cerebral palsy, respiratory conditions, viruses and infectious diseases at the Royal Children’s Hospital.
 On 7 March 2007, the recipients of the last round of Golden Casket Foundation grants were presented with commemorative plaques at a ceremony at the Botanical Gardens. Amongst them was
Dr Gary Leong from the Mater Children's Hospitals (pictured with
Bill Thorburn).
Dr Leong is looking forward to commencing a pilot program called Koala. This is a child obesity clinical research program to help prevent and treat childhood obesity. Golden Casket wishes all the grant recipients well for the coming projects.
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