1. |ETOBICOKEGUARDIAN|Thursday,March12,2015
27
community
JUSTIN SKINNER
jskinner@insidetoronto.com
Having spent plenty of her
teen years undergoing treat-
ment at the Hospital for Sick
Children(SickKids),Samantha
Dennis was impressed by the
care she received, but found
the amenities for older chil-
dren sorely lacking.
Now she and a dozen
others from the Humber
College event management
postgraduate program are
looking to raise funds to help
the hospital provide more
programmingforteensunder-
going treatment there.
Denniswasdiagnosedwith
acutelymphoblasticleukemia
at the age of 10 and under-
went more than three years of
chemotherapy at SickKids. A
relapse in 2005 led to another
few years of treatment.
“They have a teen lounge,
but it wasn’t really a teen
lounge,” she said. “It was
more a room with a TV and
some chairs.”
SickKids also runs spe-
cial teen nights, but Dennis
said they did not happen
often enough to meet the
needs of the hospital’s older
patients.
“I would have liked to have
seen more of them,” she said.
“It’s hard being sick when
you’re a teenager and having
to spend all that time in the
hospital, so having more
things for teens to do would
definitely help.”
She and her fellow Humber
students have organized
There’s No Place Like Home:
Not Just Another Night
at the Movies, a Wizard of
Oz-themed fundraising eve-
ning slated to take place at
the Regent Theatre in North
Toronto.
The event will raise money
for Marnie’s Lounge, a relax-
ing space at SickKids that
gives patients a taste of home
life.
“We wanted to bring in
more stuff teens might like,”
Dennis said.
There’sNoPlaceLikeHome
will be an immersive experi-
ence, with famous Wizard of
Oz characters Dorothy, the
Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the
Cowardly Lion and Glinda
the Good Witch walking
around the Regent’s lobby
as guests enjoy everything
else on offer.
“When people come,
they’ll be treated to hors
d’oeuvres by St. Louis Bar and
Grill, the concessions will be
provided and there will be a
silent auction sponsored by
Sears,” Dennis said. “We’ll
have the movie screening and
speeches and then a dessert
reception.”
There will also be a photo
booth where guests can get
keepsake pictures taken with
theirfavouritecharacters,and
a LEGO master builder will
assemble works of plastic toy
art live.
Dennis said the Regent fit
the event perfectly.
“At the Regent, there’s only
the one screen and a lobby, so
it was possible to make it fit
in well with the theme of the
Wizard of Oz,” she noted.
Funds raised through the
event will be split between
SickKids and scholarships
for Humber students.
“We’re hoping to raise
around $2,000 or $3,000 for
each cause,” Dennis said.
The event will take place
at the Regent Theatre, 551
Mount Pleasant Rd., from
6:30 to 10 p.m. Sunday, March
15.
Humber College students raise funds for SickKids
Samantha Dennis inspired to give after her own treatment at the hospital during her teen years
For tickets or more informa-
tion on the event, visit http://
bit.ly/1E5qhOe
i
Courtesy photo
Humber College students are hosting a fundraising evening for SickKids at the Regent Theatre
on Sunday.