TORONTO, ON (March 1, 2024) – Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital (Holland Bloorview) kicks off its eighth annual Capes for Kids fundraising campaign, presented by BMO, to support kids and youth with disabilities and developmental differences and their families. From March 1 to 8, 2024, fundraisers are asked to don superhero capes as a way to celebrate hitting their fundraising goals. The capes also function as a visual cue to help spark conversation around childhood disability and inclusion. Since 2017, the campaign has raised over $5.7 million for education, research and care at Holland Bloorview. 

“Capes for Kids is back with a bang this year and is going to be bigger and better than ever,” said Sandra Hawken, president and CEO, Holland Bloorview Foundation. “We have lots of super-charged events and activities planned for, and with, our dedicated community of fundraisers, donors and sponsors who are joining forces with us to raise $1 million to help kids with disabilities move, speak, play and heal. We believe in creating the most meaningful and healthy futures for children and youth with disabilities and developmental differences – and we’re already well on our way thanks to our caped community of everyday superheroes.”

Last year Capes for Kids exceeded its goal, raising over $1 million, and the funds raised this year will help support research and critical hospital programs and services that include, but are not limited to:

• Funding research: The Bloorview Research Institute is committed to enhancing care, developing assistive technologies and addressing barriers that restrict the inclusion of children with disabilities.
• Providing support: The Family Support Fund gives financial aid to families for equipment including wheelchairs and walkers, transportation to and from the hospital, accommodations at the hospital’s overnight suites, and medications.
• Creating laughter: Therapeutic clowns at Holland Bloorview help ease the pain using music and comedy. They’re a smile-cracking distraction during certain procedures and can make therapy fun by bringing warmth and laughter to kids and families.
• Inspiring music: Music therapy helps kids build self-confidence and creative expression, all while supporting each child’s individual therapy goals. Our unique virtual music instrument gives kids of all abilities a chance to rock out. 
• Fostering creativity: The Spiral Garden helps children’s imaginations bloom. This popular outdoor art, garden and summer camp program promotes self-expression and creativity as kids transform into artists, sculptors, gardeners, puppeteers, storytellers and theatre performers.
• Nurturing independence: The Independence Program (TIP) gives young adults with disabilities the chance to live away from home for three weeks. TIP workshops help them develop important life skills like how to buy groceries, how to prepare meals, how to manage money, and how to safely take public transit.

Zion Resendes, 12, was only two years old when he was diagnosed with acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) following a case of bronchitis. When he first arrived at Holland Bloorview as an inpatient, his muscles and reflexes were weak and his entire family was uncertain about how the partial paralysis on the right side of his body would impact his life. But Zion was on a mission to get back to doing the things he loved. “The hospital gave him the tools to try and walk and eat again. They allowed him to navigate this on his own while guiding him,” said Marlaina Resendes, Zion’s mom. “Holland Bloorview gave Zion the confidence to be the best version of himself in every change he goes through. To see someone else believe in your child the way that you do is the most powerful feeling.” 

Anyone can register to participate or donate at CapesforKids.ca. You can make your own cape or earn a Capes for Kids branded cape by raising your first $100 ($50 for children and youth). 

More ways to get involved: 

• Join us at one of several events including several Capes for Kids games with the Raptors 905, a superhero trivia night and super-charged spin class!
• When you raise $1,000 you can receive a limited edition gold cape. 
• Sign your workplace up and your corporate team will be assigned an honorary Kid Captain to help unite your team and achieve your fundraising goal!

Everything you need to fundraise, including downloadable graphics and virtual meeting backgrounds, can be found in our Fundraising Toolkit. 

Capes for Kids is made possible through the generous support of donors, including Presenting Sponsor BMO and other supporting sponsors: TD, LEGO Canada, HGC Investment Management Inc., CI Financial, Element Fleet Management, Target Park, GFL Environmental, Sodexo Canada, ALLIED, Osler Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, Avison Young, Schultz Law Group LLP, Coast Capital Savings, Gluckstein Lawyers, Motion, CIBC, INFOR Financial, and The Kit. Special thanks to media partners Aber Group, Pattison Outdoor, Rogers Media, Toronto Life and the Toronto Star. 

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About Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital

Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital believes in creating a world where all youth and children belong. We are the only children’s rehabilitation hospital in Canada focused on combining world-class care, transformational research, and academic leadership in the field of child and youth rehabilitation and disability. We are a top 40 Canadian research hospital that is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto. Providing both inpatient and outpatient services, Holland Bloorview is renowned for its expertise in co-creating with clients and families to provide exceptional care and is the only organization to ever achieve 100 per cent in three successive quality surveys by Accreditation Canada. Holland Bloorview is a founding member of Kids Health Alliance, a network of partners working to create a high quality, consistent and coordinated approach to pediatric health care that is centred around children, youth and their families. Together we champion a world of possibility. For more information or to donate, please visit hollandbloorview.ca or connect on X, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and parent-blog BLOOM.

For media inquiries, please contact:
Erin Pooley
Senior Media Relations Specialist
Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital
epooley@hollandbloorview.ca
C: 647-406-3567