5 Things You Need To Know About The SickKids VS Limits Campaign

SickKids is ready to build a new hospital – but it needs your help

The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) just launched their newest campaign, SickKids VS Limits. The campaign not only marked the start of one of their biggest campaigns yet, but it also put into perspective just how necessary a new hospital is for the city. The purpose was clear: To change the future of children’s health.

Here are five stand-out moments from the #SickKidsVS launch in Toronto that inspired me to donate.

1. It’s a big fund-raising goal

This campaign will be one of the largest fundraising goals in the history of Canadian health care – and with our help, their goal will become a reality. SickKids VS Limits campaign hopes to raise $1.3 billion. I’d say they’re right on track, having already secured previous to the launch $570 million in donations and pledges through philanthropy from corporations, community organizations, events, families and individuals.

In fact, many of the donors were recognized for their contributions during the campaign kick-off, as they walked side-by-side in the SickKids All-Star Parade, which also featured patient ambassadors, Maple Leaf alumni and more. This walk depicted the generosity of the donor community and just how important this hospital truly is for the city.

2. Important people are supporting it

Toronto Mayor John Tory was part of the launch. “I’m proud to support the campaign – to show leadership – and to show everybody in the city that we can do it again. We did it once when we built the original building and now it’s time to do it again.” This campaign is not only important for families within our city and in other parts of the world, but it is crucial for Tory’s family as well. “All four of our children have been treated at SickKids, and our grandchildren are now showing up there, too,” says Tory.

And you may know a Canadian born actor named Ryan Reynolds, who is also behind the campaign. In the below video he shows his support for children’s health by asking viewers to join in the fight for a new hospital, as he stands alongside roughly 300 SickKids staff members.

300 @sickkids staff standing right behind me. Best superhero team-up movie ever. pic.twitter.com/6heu9Kws79

— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) September 27, 2017

3. Even the CN Tower was lit up in honour of the campaign

In commemoration of the SickKids VS Limits campaign, the CN Tower and the city’s three-dimensional Toronto sign at Nathan Phillips Square was lit up in blue that very evening. Tory presented the event as, “the kick-off of a huge campaign to do something that is really, very much needed in our city.”

If you were lucky enough to see the light up of these iconic sites, it was truly an occasion to remember.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BbR6YmplAs6/?taken-by=ride4sickkids

4. The commercial will make you cry

Powerful. Captivating. Heart-gripping. Those are the words that came to mind as I watched the two-minute SickKids VS: All In video. The commercial really put the campaign into perspective, as it featured 200 SickKids patient ambassadors and their siblings rallying together and running though the city streets gathering building materials. The black-and-white video ends with the children at an empty piece of land, with materials in hand and ready to build.

A number of SickKids patient ambassadors from the ad were at the launch. They made their way towards the very front of the stage, replicating an iconic scene from the end of the video. In that moment, as the children held their building materials up high, you knew this was the start of something huge: A campaign that could change children’s lives forever.

5. Unleash SickKids full potential

SickKids has been in the same 555 University Avenue building since 1949. With SickKids being one of the top three children’s hospitals in the world, it’s time for a new home. Treating 100,000 patients and performing roughly 12,000 surgeries per year, this is why SickKids has re-imagined their campus to include state-of-the-art technology, family-centred care, safety and infection control, and more.