IMPACTS of the bushfires and COVID-19 have been a “double hit” with many local charities and community organisations struggling to stay afloat, according to a recent survey of Canberra’s community sector.

The Hands Across Canberra’s three-month survey shows that 97 per cent of the community sector has been impacted, with 83 per cent saying that they will be significantly impacted, says Diane Kargas Bray, chair of Hands Across Canberra. 

The Starlight Children’s Foundation says this year is like no other with 

every planned event having to be cancelled. 

“Millions of dollars we would have raised through dinners, balls, bike rides and treks have been cancelled for the whole year,” says CEO Louise Baxter. 

“Every week that goes by there is an event that was not held and dollars not raised.” 

While Louise acknowledges that the crisis has affected everyone and it is a “tough time” she says that there are no fewer sick kids because of COVID-19. 

“Sometimes during tough times, we think of others who might be doing it even more tough than ourselves. If you have a capacity to donate, I hope people can dig deep,” she says of Starlight’s June appeal, which has a $350,000 national target to support programs for sick children.

Starlight Foundation works in partnership with children’s wards and hospitals including the Centenary Hospital for Women and Children to lift chronically ill children and their families’ spirits through the Starlight rooms, online programs, wish granting and other entertainment and distraction based on positive psychology principles. 

Five-year old William McLennan, from Queanbeyan, is a big fan of the Starlight Foundation. 

His mum, Naomi Taylor says that Starlight helps make the hospital a positive place for him. Diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 2 (SMA) – the childhood version of Motor Neurone Disease at two years old, William’s degenerative condition means that he requires admissions to Canberra Hospital and Sydney Children’s Hospital to manage his condition that affects his ability to walk, sit up and feed. 

His most recent stint at Canberra Hospital earlier this year lasted for seven weeks, when a fall from his motorised wheelchair resulted in a broken leg. 

Daily visits from the Starlight Captains helped keep him happy and gave his mum a break. 

“The Starlight Captains decorated William’s hospital room, creating a web that he could throw balls into from his bed,” she says. 

She says that the Starlight Foundation helps to make hospital a positive place for William. 

“As he gets older, he will need to keep coming to hospital, so to make hospital enjoyable is a very good thing for him,” says Naomi. 

She encourages people to consider making a tax-deductible donation to help support Starlight’s programs. 

“Without donations the programs wouldn’t exist and they are vital for the mental health of children and parents, especially those kids who are in hospital for months on end,” she says.    

Donate at starlight.org.au/donate