Let's Help More Than 100 Children with Cancer

Thanks to our loyal sponsors and supporters, the Childhood Cancer Fund Rugute continues to support families that face financial difficulties due to their child’s illness. Every month the Fund provides such families with financial support and necessary medical supplies. During the months of March, April and May of 2012, the Fund estimated the importance of financial needs that such families had addressed in their requests for support, and provided both monthly and non-recurring charity of 95 431,14 Lt to them.

Improving the treatment quality for the young cancer patients has always been one of the most important goals of Rugute. Following the doctor’s request, in order to be able to administer an advanced treatment scheme for a teenage girl with cancer, the Fund purchased a quantity of Temodal, a medicine that has been shown to be successful in the treatment of oncological diseases, but that is unavailable in Lithuania. This purchase allowed the new and progressive cancer treatment method to be administered immediately. The medicine Temodal cost 10 375,66 Lt.

Thanks to the kind people who donated for us via GlobalGiving, Fund Rugute also purchased a quantity of Lastet, a medicine that is also unavailable in Lithuania, but necessary for the cancer patients. The medicine Lastet cost 2 082,94 Lt.

The Fund also used a part of the GlobalGiving donations to purchase a mobile oxygen concentrator for a little boy with respiratory difficulties. The oxygen concentrator cost 9 000,00 Lt.  

Aiming to improve hospital care conditions for children with restricted mobility (especially after surgical procedures), the Fund purchased a mobile patient lifting equipment and provided it to the Children’s Oncohematology Division of Kaunas Clinics.

With the support received via GlobalGiving, the Fund was able to cover the maintenance costs of Rugute’s Home, where children in need and their family members were staying free of charge. The children that arrived to the hospital for screening and that were released from the hospital for short periods of time, found home environment at the cozy premises of Rugute’s Home, where they were able to play freely, spend time with their family members, and have a quality rest in comfortable separate bedrooms.

Rugute has always emphasized the importance of the psychological well-being of the young cancer patients. Children, who spend long months being isolated in between four hospital walls, find it very difficult to communicate with the outer world, and their personal improvement becomes a challenge. Being far from family and friends, such children face psychological and emotional problems. During the past few months Rugute purchased three laptop computers and gave them to three children in need, as a part of the Fund’s Make a Wish project. These laptop computers ensured the children’s capability to interact with family and friends, allowed them to improve knowledge and skills and made the long months of isolation bearable.

On the 7^th of May, John Gwilliams, Alan Quinlan and Nick Miles from the company Barclays in United Kingdom arrived to Lithuania and, together with two Lithuanian colleagues, organized the 2^nd and even more challenging bike ride across Lithuania than last year’s. The purpose of the ride was not only to ride 500 miles in 5 days, but also to raise funds for the children of Rugute. We sincerely thank the daring cyclists for taking this incredible challenge for the second time, and for raising funds for Rugute via the GlobalGiving website.

A lot of young lives in the oncohematology units depend on multiple blood transfusions. Fund Rugute helps to ensure that a certain type and amount of blood is always available to the children who need blood transfusions. On the 26^th of May, Fund Rugute and the public entity Nacionalinis kraujo centras organized the 8^th voluntary blood drive Share a Droplet, and invited everybody to donate blood for the sick children. 29 donors donated their blood in the cozy atmosphere of Rugute’s Home.

We give our heartfelt thanks to all the kind people who donate money to Childhood Cancer Fund Rugute via GlobalGiving. Your contributions make it much easier for us to accomplish our mission.  It is very comforting and promising to know that we can ignite a new hope in the eyes of a sick child, together!

Links:

• Rugute Fund

At the end of November, 2012, Childhood Cancer Fund Rugute celebrated its seventh birthday. The Fund usually commemorates its birthday by some special event, so, a blood drive Share a Droplet took place in Rugute’s Home on the 3^rd of December, 2011. The seventh blood drive campaign was unusual: all who had arrived to donate blood had an opportunity to be included into the bone marrow donor registry. Many children and adults with leukemia have only one way to get well – to receive a bone marrow transplant.  This means that each new person included in the registry becomes a potential life saver. During the blood drive of Rugute, 27 names of potential bone marrow donors were added to the bone marrow donor registry.

Thanks to the loyal sponsors of Rugute, the Fund continues to support families that face financial difficulties due to their child’s illness. Every month the Fund provides such families with financial support and necessary medical supplies. The Fund also provides psychological support by organizing group therapy sessions to parents that had lost their children to oncological diseases. 

One of the most important missions of Rugute is to improve the treatment quality for children with oncological diseases. The Fund, using the money raised via GlobalGiving, was able to purchase more long-term catheters, special access needles and infusion pumps. The long-term catheters help immensely to ensure a better emotional state of a young patient, because by using them painful multiple catheter insertions into the vein can be avoided. The Fund was also able to buy a quantity Ixoten, a medicine that has been shown to be successful in the treatment of oncological diseases, but that is unavailable in Lithuania.

Rugute also provided 20 000 Lt to cover a part of the hyperthermia treatment costs for Julija, a 16 year old rhabdomyosarcoma patient. The girl received this hyperthermia treatment in Germany, since such procedures are not available in Lithuania. The families that arrive to the capital city for screening, and children who are released from the hospital for short periods of time, find a cozy shelter and accommodation in Rugute’s Home, where children can play freely, spend time with their family members, and have a quality rest in a non-hospital environment.

We thank, most sincerely, all of the sponsors of GlobalGiving who donate money to Lithuanian children with oncological diseases. Your assistance allows us to improve the physical and psychological welfare of the little cancer patients… and knowing that you have faith in our mission keeps us moving forward.

Links:

• Rugute Fund.

We sincerely thank all of our sponsors, because, thanks to their kind hearts, our Fund was able to implement new projects and to continue working on the projects that have ensured many kinds of help to children with oncological diseases since the beginning of the Fund’s activities. Thanks to your support, our Fund continued ensuring the timely supply of the medicine Temodal and continued purchasing the medical care products, specifically, the long-term central vein catheters. The support also ensured the maintenance of the Rugut’s Home, where sick children in need and their family members have been able to stay free of charge. Families, nursing children with oncological diseases, were also provided with financial support.

For the five past years our Fund has been putting a strong emphasis on providing palliative care for children. We believe that it is crucial to figure out the exact needs of the child in need of the palliative care, and the needs of his/her family members, in order to provide them with a choice: whether to spend this stage of treatment at home, or at the hospital. Therefore, our Fund got an additional set of the necessary gear: rented an oxygen concentrator, purchased a bedsore mattress, a pulsoximeter and other necessary items that will ensure the best possible nursing conditions for the children who are discharged from the hospital to be nursed at home.

In summer our Fund organized one of its most important yearly events, The Island of Friends 2011. The aim of this once-a-year event is to bring families of similar destiny together, encouraging them to share their social and medical knowledge, experiences, thoughts and emotions, while they enjoy being together. During the event the children celebrate a special day, where they watch various shows and performances, play with their beloved artists and spend time with their mates in an environment other than in a hospital. The time spent together helps the sick children and their family members to realize that they are not alone in confronting their oncological diseases. The Island of Friends 2011 was made exceptionally special by the visit of Mr. Clinton Misamore, the representative of the GlobalGiving organization.

We thank you for your financial support from the bottom of our hearts. Our beautiful friendship with you lights up the dark road we are walking together. Knowing that we are not alone makes us walk stronger and braver.

Sincerely,

Rugut’s Home

Links:

• Rugut's Home

My name is Clinton Misamore.  I am a Field Program Officer for GlobalGiving.  Over the past three months I have been visiting GlobalGiving projects throughout Russia and the Baltics.  On July 3rd, 2011, I had the unique opportunity to visit with the Childhood Cancer Fund Regute in Vilnius, Lithuania.  I was greated with a welcoming smile and warm hug from Edita (Regute Founder) and a most friendly introduction to Regute operations from Tadas (GlobalGiving Project Leader).  Tadas also encouraged me to stay for their annual party where they bring together around 100 families that the fund is working with.  The fund supports these families in various capacities ranging from medical to emotional support.  The annual party was created to bring everyone together-- all the children and their families-- on one day each year.  The children participate in a range of different activities from singing, dancing, live performances, magicians, musical artists, painters, etc... At the end of the days events I was not only exhausted-- but speechless.  The small, dynamic team behind Regute is super dedicated to this cause.  I can't thank them enough for inspiring me through their actions.  The entire team at Regute embodies the definition of selflessness.  

Regute has essentially built a family of approximately 500 people that have seen the ills of cancer in their everyday lives--  both victims and family of victims.  Edita has dedicated her life to creating a community that is open and supportive of these individuals.  I was fortunate enough to also engage in several meaningful conversations with some of these families.  They were all testimonials of the neccessity of an organization such as Regute as well as the passion and drive of Edita.

It was an amazing personal experience to find out more about the operations of Regute as well as to interact with their team.  The organization is operated by just a few skilled, passionate individuals but clearly illustrates how a few individuals with an idea can help change the world for better.  It is without reservation that I recommend the Childhood Cancer Fund Regute.

I would like to kindly recognize and sincerely thank Edita, Tadas, and everyone else who made this visit possible.  GlobalGiving is proud to be in collaboration with such a top notch organization and we look forward to working with you in the years to come.  

Links:

• blog about the visit

We wish to thank you, most sincerely, for the warmth of your hearts and for the support you provided to our ill children. Thanks to your donations, the Childhood Cancer Fund Rugutė was able to continue providing medicine, medical supplies and timely screening to Lithuanian children with oncological diseases, as well as supporting their families.

During the first three months of the last year, three hospitalized children were in need of the medicine Temodal, the supply of which, unfortunately, has been cut. Our fund purchased this medicine and ensured the continuity of the necessary treatment. Our fund was also able to purchase more long-term central venous catheters that significantly improved the psychological well-being of the sick children in treatment, and allowed them to avoid multiple insertions of the peripheral venous catheters. Families raising children with oncological diseases also received financial support to purchase groceries and medical supplies. Thanks to your donations the fund was able to cover the maintenance costs of Rugutė’s Home, where children in need and their family members were staying free of charge.

From the 28^th of May to the 3^rd of June 2011, the 10^th Week for Children with Leukemia took place in Turkey. The Turkish fund LOSEV invited two children of Rugutė, Ignas (with his mother) and Simona (they both have recovered from Leukemia), to participate in this event. Our fund covered the expenses of their trip to Turkey. Children and their mothers from many different countries shared their individual experiences and knowledge about the disease, participated in a conference on leukemia and rested at the sunny beaches of Antalya by the Mediterranean Sea.

On the 4^th of June, the Childhood Cancer Fund Rugutė and the public entity Nacionalinis kraujo centras organized the 6^th voluntary blood drive Share a Droplet, and invited everybody to donate blood for children. 30 donors donated their blood in the cozy atmosphere of Rugutė’s Home.

On the 8^th of May, three colleagues from the company Barclays in United Kingdom arrived to Lithuania and organized a challenging bike ride across Lithuania. Its purpose was not only to ride 650 km by bicycles and to establish a relationship between the two countries, but also to stop in the towns of Širvintos, Panevėžys, Radviliškis, Šiauliai, Tauragė and Kaunas, and to visit children of Rugutė living there. We sincerely thank Mr. John Gwilliams, Mr. Alan Quinlan and Mr. Nick Miles, for implementing this noble idea, for sharing the warmth of their hearts with sick children, and for raising funds for Rugutė via the GlobalGiving website.

We say our heartfelt thanks to all of you for your support. It is so good to know that you and us, together, are able to help our sick children move towards life without disease.

The Childhood Cancer Fund Rugutė team

Links:

• http://www.rugute.lt/en/