CAPED CRUSADERS
Weeklong campaign uses capes to raise money for kids with disabilities,
Maybe you’ve seen some caped crusaders in the city this week.
It could have been Superhero Gavi, who can become invisible and is amazing at hide and go seek; or Steven, who has water power that he uses to put out flames; or Superhero Abbey, who can fly.
These superheroes, with powers imagined on Thursday by three cape-wearing students — Gavriella, 6, Derek, 5, and Abigail, 5 — are among teachers, researchers, engineers and business people who have also been rocking shiny fabric this week.
The wardrobe additions come as part of a weeklong fundraising campaign — Capes for Kids — on now through Sunday to support children, like Gavriella, Derek and Abigail, who use services at Toronto’s Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital. The facility offers therapy and programs for over 7,000 kids with disabilities every year and their families.
“I think that we all believe that these kids are amazing . . . (the capes are) sort of a small indication that we believe they are superheroes and that we have the ability to raise money to make their lives even better,” said Ilana Hechter, chair of the Connect to Kids committee at the hospital and part of a team of nine who are fundraising.
Hechter’s been sporting a cape at work all week, including throughout a three-day business trip in Vancouver.
“It’s definitely something people notice, they don’t often see people in the work world wearing capes with, um, executive clothing,” she said.
Getting noticed is a big part of the campaign’s goal.
“Donor dollars need to fund all the things that aren’t what people typically think of for a hospital, but that are really what make up the special sauce of Holland Bloorview,” said Sandra Hawken, president and CEO of the hospital.
She said the facility’s ability to provide therapeutic clown services and family support, while conducting innovative research is helped by donor support.
Hawken said the hospital is “well on its way” to exceeding its goal of $300,000 and noted that for those who miss out on this year’s effort, the hospital plans to do it again next year.
“So many fundraisers that happen out there are not accessible and inclusive and equally appealing,” Hawken said.
“If you’re in a wheelchair or a walker you can wear a cape, if you are a CEO of a major company, like lots of our board members are, you can wear a cape there too.”
Alexander Hodge, who works at the Bloorview Research Institute, has figured out precisely where to place a safety pin on his jacket to stop the shiny red one he’s been wearing from blinding him on his motorcycle.
He said wearing the shiny fabric in public has given him a chance to talk about the hospital to people who haven’t heard much about it.