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