In order to finance its life-saving medical care, the CCCL offers those looking to contribute a number of different funding levels for helping its kids. One option is through the center’s Legacy Programs. The organization offers six different legacy programs for big donors: Hands of Hope, Wishing Stars, Rainbow of Hope, Tree of Life, Paola’s Friends and the Endowment Fund. “Our legacy programs have been present since the center started … in April 2002,” explained Karen Khoury, PR and communications manager at CCCL. “In our first years we had legacy programs, and year after year we developed and added new ones.” Each legacy program allows donors to contribute a certain amount of money for a specific therapeutic treatment. Donations to the six programs are accepted year-round, and those who donate are then honored by having their names displayed at the center. Through the Hands of Hope program, donors can cover the annual cost of a child’s treatment course with antibiotics, chemotherapy or radiation therapy. “The idea behind it is giving CCCL donors the opportunity to create their own legacy by having their names on our Legacy walls: For example, let’s say one donates $10,000, which is the average cost of chemotherapy that a child might need in one year,” Khoury said. “It’s as if they held the hand of the child in the center during their chemotherapy treatment. And [so they] get their name on the CCCL Hands of Hope Wall.” Cancer drugs are incredibly expensive – an antibiotics course can cost $6,000. Radiation therapy can run $15,000. The Wishing Stars program allows donors to help cover the costs for operations and surgeries. For a donation of $20,000, the cost of removing a rigid tumor, a donor’s name is displayed for one year on a “Shimmer Star” at the CCCL. If a donor funds a leukemia induction, which can cost $30,000, their name is displayed on a “Twinkle Star” for two years. Donors can have their names displayed on “Shine Stars” for four years if they contribute $40,000, which corresponds to the price of an advanced prosthesis. With the Rainbow of Hope program, donors can ensure that their names will be permanently displayed on a wall at the facility. “[If] you have the donor who can sponsor the treatment of one child for one year or more here at the center – which costs on average $50,000 per year – the donor’s name will always be on the Rainbow of Hope,” Khoury said. If donors want to sponsor a child for another year, a star is placed under their name, one for each child they help. Named for a girl who triumphed over the disease, the Paola’s Friends program is for donors who contribute $150,000, the average cost of a child’s total treatment. The donor’s name is given to a statue of six children in CCCL’s garden, which symbolizes kids’ determination in fighting the disease. CCCL also accepts larger donations. With the Tree of Life program, donors can give between $60,000 and $300,000 to cover large operational costs. Gifts of over $500,000 are accepted for its Endowment Fund. The organization aims to gather $50 million for the fund to ensure the long-term viability of its programs and services. Khoury stressed that it’s not necessary to make a large donation in order to help, and those who want to contribute at other levels of giving can do so through a number of other programs. “We don’t depend only on Legacy donations, we also depend on donations that are smaller … because we know they are more frequent and more accessible for everyone.” Smaller donations can be made through the organization’s recently launched Light a Candle initiative for mobile phones, Khoury said. “Any person can help the CCCL.”
