Get to know our LIVE Miracle Weekend phone panel

Just as our incredible fundraisers are starting to tally up all the incredible donations they will present at our 29^th annual Miracle Weekend telethon, taking place June 4 and 5 on Global BC, our spectacular phone volunteers are also prepping their rolodex and getting ready to man the phones during our live TV broadcast!

We’re grateful to have key members of our hospital community highlighted on air, giving back to a cause that is close to their hearts. Click on any of the links below to learn about each of the groups answering the phones over the broadcast.

Phone Volunteer highlights:

Vancouver Island Volunteers

Rare Disease Advocate Families

Sunny Hill Health Centre and Infant Transport Team

BC Children’s Research Teams

BC Children’s Patient Families

BC Children’s Family Support and Resources

Auxiliary to BC Children’s Hospital

 Saturday, June 4 – 8 PM – 9:30 PM - Vancouver Island

Each year nearly 2,500 children from Vancouver Island make a visit to BC Children’s Hospital. During Miracle Weekend, you will see eight people from the Vancouver Island community who have been personally inspiring by the work happening at BC Children’s Hospital. These are patient parents, supporters and key volunteers.

A big thank you to everyone on Panel 2 for making the trip over from Vancouver Island for Miracle Weekend!

 Rare disease advocate families - Sunday, June 5 – 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM

According to the Rare Disease Foundation, a rare disease is defined as a condition affecting less than 1 in 2000 people. Today, there are more than 7000 diagnosed rare diseases however many are still unknown. On top of the medical difficulties associated rare diseases, often times patients must meet with various medical teams to be treated by specialists.

BC Children’s Hospital provides patients and their families with a place to see all of their required specialists on the same campus. “If we did not have such a wonderful place we would be spending hours driving around to different specialists,” says Allison Jones, phone seat three, and mother of BC Children’s patient Max.

Tune in on Sunday, June 5 from 10:30 AM -11:30 AM and call any of the numbers listed below to donate and chat with our Rare Diseases Foundation supporters.

 Sunny Hill Health Centre and Infant Transport Teams - Sunday, June 5 – 12:30 PM –1:30 PM

Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children provides specialized development and rehabilitation services for BC kids needing support for anything from motor or sensory development to mental health support to respite care. Many patients are treated on an outpatient basis, with many more helped through the Outreach Program in their community. Volunteers at Sunny Hill help to add to the comfort, support, and distraction through play for patients and their families. Call anyone in seats 5 - 8 from 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM on Sunday, June 5 to speak to a Sunny Hill volunteer and make a donation towards Miracle Weekend.

Made up of 26 highly trained paramedics, the Infant Transport Team responds to emergency calls from all over the province and is the only critical care paramedic-based team in BC. There are four Infant Transport Team members on the panel during this hour, so call anyone in seats 5 - 8 to talk to one of them and make a donation to Miracle Weekend.

 BC Children’s Hospital Researcher Teams - Sunday, June 5 – 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM

The Child & Family Research Institute (CFRI) is housed on the BC Children’s Hospital campus and conducts discovery, translational, and clinical research. Working in close partnership with BC Children’s Hospital its focus is to benefit the health of children and their families and focuses on childhood illnesses such as diabetes, cancer, and genetic and immunity diseases.

From 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM on Sunday, June 5, call any of the following numbers to speak to one of our fantastic researchers during the telethon and donate to Miracle Weekend.

Want to learn more about our researcher panel? Click on their names for an overview of their area of research!

 BC Children’s Hospital and Pediatric Transplant Centre Patient Families - Sunday, June 5 – 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM

Miracle Weekend’s 2:30 phone panel is made up of one of our most important supporter groups, patient families.

For every child who comes to BC Children’s Hospital Foundation, there are parents and family members affected as well. Although each journey is different, the level of care and compassion provided to each one is held constant. Every family has a different reason for giving back, but the following families chose to do so by taking part in Miracle Weekend!

We’re also lucky to have families on this panel that share their story through BC Transplant, BC’s agency which provides support for families of organ donations and transplantations.   BC Children’s Hospital is the provinces only pediatric transplant centre to perform kidney and heart transplants.

Call seats 1-4 for transplant panelists and seats 5-8 for parents of patients’ panelists, and donate to Miracle Weekend!

More transplant resources:

COTS – Children’s Organ Transplant Society

Canadian Transplant Association

Transplant Games

Children’s Heart Network

 BC Children’s Family Support and Resources - Sunday, June 5 – 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM

There are so many resources for family support at BC Children’s Hospital! From the Family Resource Centre which provides a library of medical resources in everyday language, to cuddly therapy dogs that offer companionship to children in the hospital.

On our 9^th phone panel, from 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM PM on Sunday, June 4, you’ll see representitives from family support programs at the hospital, including Mehar on seat one who is part of an innovative face-to-face patient/provider engagement tool called Patient’s View, which solicits feedback about quality and safety from the unique perspective of patients and families.

 Auxiliary to BC Children’s Hospital - Sunday, June 5 – 4:30 PM – 5:20 PM

The Auxiliary to BC Children’s Hospital is an independently organized volunteer group that runs businesses and services such as the Still Fabulous Thrift Shops, clothing donation bin program and gift shop, with 100 per cent proceeds supporting urgent needs of the hospital. Because of their tireless efforts, the Auxiliary to BC Children’s Hospital was able to raise over one-million dollars towards the new Teck Acute Care Centre at BC Children’s Hospital, opening in 2017.

As a tradition, our final phone panel is made up of Auxiliary volunteers! Please call and donate to Miracle Weekend on Sunday, June 5 from 4:30 – 5:20 PM and chat with one of the panelists.