You may have heard about Sarah Cook. At the age of 8, while battling cancer, she decided that she wanted to raise money for new pillows for the other children on the floor at the hospital who were facing the same challenges as she was.

That was in 2001. In 2002, a group of Sarah’s friends and family organized an event with the objective of fulfilling Sarah’s vision of renovating the in-patient hematology/oncology ward at the Montreal Children’s Hospital (MCH).

The Sarah Cook Fund was established and since its inception has raised over $4.5 million, focusing on the immediate and long term needs of the hematology/oncology division of the MCH.  The funds have served to purchase state-of-the-art equipment and to help families deal with this difficult challenge in a variety of ways including art therapy, financial assistance for families battling childhood cancer, and creating a comfortable space where children and families can be during their time at the MCH. Over $1 million has gone into fulfilling Sarah’s vision for the ward, now “Sarah’s Floor”.

Sarah is now 19 years old and has battled cancer a second time. This year marks the Sarah Cook Fund‘s 10th anniversary will be marked by its fabulous flagship fundraising event called Splash and Dash which will take place on Saturday, November 19th at the McGill University Sports Complex (475 Pine Avenue).

Families, schools and companies are invited to enter teams in a variety of run-swim-run relay races that will take place throughout the day.

If being part of a team at the event is not your thing, then you can still support the event by going to the Family Fun Expo at $8 per person or $20 for the whole family! Payable at the door, by the way, so no worries about booking in advance! (Note that relay team participants can enter the Family Fun Expo free of charge 😉 ).

For $20, your entire family can enjoy:

• an inflatable obstacle course,
• face painting,
• disc jockey,
• mascots,
• great snacks,
• yoga for kids,
• prizes
• much more…

You and your family will be sure to have a fun-filled day all while supporting an extremely worthwhile cause.    Where else can you do all of this for just $20 per family????

Still wondering about how the relay races work?

There are three people on each team. The first person will run a pre-determined number of laps around the indoor track before tagging their team mate. The swimmer then dives into the pool to complete the swimming portion. After finishing their laps, the swimmer will tag the final team mate to complete the last running leg of the race.

Thinking you can get a team of 3 to represent your family, school or company?  Click here for more details on how you can register.

All in all Splash & Dash promises to be a fun-filled day for everyone!  Be sure to check out the Splash & Dash Website for all the details.

Go on now…HOLD THE DATE (November 19th) on your calendars and at the very least, plan a family outing to attend the Family Fun Expo!

If you’ve ever had your child at the MCH, you know how attentive the staff are to both the children and their families.  You know how they try to make everything a little more fun, a little more accessible and a little more palatable.  Even this fundraiser is all of the above.

Be there.  Do it for the Children’s.  Do it for our children.

Do you have any stories about how the MCH was there for your family?  Please share with our readers to give them extra reason to show up on the 19th!

With a Splash of sun and a Dash of spice, wishing you a day where everything’s nice 🙂

Tanya