Travel to Oz to Benefit Shine On Kids

By The Savvy Team |
September 2, 2015 |
Lifestyle

Now is your chance to realize your childhood dreams of following the yellow brick road to the Emerald City. On September 26, the ballroom of the Tokyo American Club will be transformed into the glittering capital of Oz for gala event supporting Shine On Kids. This 10th annual fundraiser event will raise funds to support children with cancer and other serious illnesses and their families.

The fun-packed evening will include party games, a gourmet dinner, wine and other drinks, and after-dinner dancing. There will also be a raffle and a silent auction, with some fantastic prizes to be won. The grand raffle prize is a spa trip for two to Phuket provided by Cathay Pacific Airways and Banyan Tree Phuket Spa Sanctuary. Auction items include luxury travel packages to Australia to stay at the Four Seasons Sydney, Hawaii and Napa Valley flying business class on United Airlines, real Emerald jewelry crafted by Infinity Diamonds, and many other exciting prizes.

The evening’s proceeds will go toward Shine On Kids, an organization is dedicated to making life better and brighter for sick children in Japan. Originally founded as the Tyler Foundation in 2006 by Kim Forsythe and husband Mark Ferris, Shine On Kids was certified by the Japanese government as an NPO in 2012. The organization was inspired by the smiles and courage of their son Tyler, who spent much of his short life battling leukemia. After losing Tyler, the couple realized they could take his struggles and their experience and create something positive for families going through what they had endured. While the level of medical treatment in Japan is high, patient and family support systems are lacking. Shine On Kids seeks to empower children and families by providing innovative programs to hospitals around the country.

Shine On Kids is the sole provider of Beads of Courage in Japan. In this program, children fighting cancer receive colorful beads to commemorate milestones achieved during their treatment. Each bead tells a story of strength, honor, and hope; a star bead for surgery, a white bead for chemotherapy, a heart bead for entering the ICU. Children on average receive a total of 900 beads by the end of the treatment, and their unique strings become a tangible symbol of their courage along their difficult treatment journey.

The Facility Dog Program is Japan’s first, full-time animal assisted therapy program at a children’s hospital. A specially trained therapy dog is paired with a dedicated nurse handler to make a new kind of medical team that is there every day to make life in the hospital a little brighter. Patients are encouraged and comforted by the dogs and benefit both physically and emotionally from their daily interactions with them. A Facility Dog team can make thousands of visits per year; they accompany children during scary or painful medical procedures, sit with children after surgeries, and comfort parents after hearing the news that their child is sick. For children, Facility Dogs have the power to turn a scary moment into a fun moment.

Attendees of the Extravaganza will have the rare opportunity to hear directly from patients from both programs tell about their experiences, along with speeches from Facility Dog Program Leader Yuko Morita and founder Kim Forsythe. It promises to be both a fun and informative evening, all for the benefit of a great cause.