The Tessarolo Family has had a whirlwind experience that began early this year, with BC Children’s Hospital’s Oncology department. They saw not only how amazing the hospital can be, but that there are so many other programs (like Balding for Dollars) that are designed to give those diagnosed families additional support, financial relief, fun memories, and so much more! And they saw that these programs were suffering along with so many things in this challenging year due to Covid-19. Our in-person fundraisers have not been able to run, therefore we’ve had to pivot and get creative to raise much needed funds, however our donations have been down all across the board because so many have struggled financially in BC this year. We also have not been able to run many of our amazing programs we normally provide such as teen adventures, our parent’s days/retreats, themed craft days in the family lounge, and family programming such as day outings, concerts, sporting events etc. So, the Tessarolo’s decided they wanted to rally the support of their community to see who WAS able to give back right now, and did they ever DELIVER!
They are now credited with raising the most funds for an individual fundraiser (independent of an event) crushing their $50,000 goal with currently $65,850.00 raised! They are very aware that they have an amazing circle of support that helped them get there, as these feats always take a community!
Way to go Tessarolo family! We are so, SO grateful, and we are crying happy tears that these funds will help carry us unto our 2021 year strong and we will be able to continue helping so many families going through this. We have the best supporters, no matter what is happening in the world!
Here’s their story:
“Our son Beckett was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) in February of this year. He had not been acting himself and after a trip to our family doctor and a blood test we learned this horrible news. We received the news late at night from our dedicated family physician, within an hour we were on our way to BC Children’s Hospital (BCCH) in a state of shock, unsure of what would happen next. The first days were overwhelming with all the tests, meetings and decisions we would have to make. BCCH became our home for the next 5 months where Beckett received his inpatient treatment. Beckett is now home and in the maintenance portion of his treatment. Beckett has done remarkable; he has been so brave and remained a sweet and smiling boy throughout his treatment. We are happy to say that Beckett is currently in remission.
Since Beckett’s diagnosis, we have witnessed firsthand the immense importance of what BCCH and their supporters provide families who experience childhood cancer diagnoses. We also couldn’t be more grateful to have a hospital of BCCH’s caliber so close to home. BCCH provided access to expert care for Beckett within hours of receiving his diagnosis. Many families are not as fortunate and need to drop everything and travel hours from where they live to come and receive care at BCCH, away from all of their family, friends and support network. Balding for Dollars not only helps provide all families at BCCH, from near and far, with the basic essentials they need while living at the hospital receiving care but they also do everything in their power to make it as positive of an experience as it could be.
Through our journey, we experienced how Covid 19 makes life more difficult for the families navigating cancer treatments. We recognized the impact it has had on charities such as Balding for Dollars, making it harder for them to help support these families. We saw the opportunity to help Balding For Dollars continue their mission during these difficult times. We feel we could never do enough to sufficiently thank the amazing staff of BCCH for what they have done for us, but we are excited to be able to give back what we can.”
-Melanie & Geoff Tessarolo
You can still donate to their page until the end of the year by going here.
