Greetings, all!

First of all, let me introduce myself. My name is Annalisa Prak, and I am the mother of two thankfully healthy little boys. Garion is turning 7 on Monday, and Garath is 4 and unsure whether he's a baby or a 'big boy'.

What then, you may ask, could I possibly know about Childhood Cancer and the struggles lived through every day by the children and their families? Well, I had a little brother, Edward, who passed away at the age of 11 from the Ewings Sarcoma that robbed him of the use of his leg. I wasn't living at home any more by that time; I was much older than my siblings as they were all from my mother's second marriage. I had watched them grow up, though, and made sure that I spent time with all of them. I loved (still love) all five of them very much.

Perhaps the worst thing about Childhood Cancer, and the one thing that's very difficult to even think about is the complete unfairness of it. The randomness of the way it strikes, with no respect for age, or race, or how many people desperately want the sufferer to be well. That a beloved child should be struck down by this horrible disease, that a little one should have to endure all that pain is almost unbearable to contemplate.

To those who, like me, have healthy children, think about this. Have you ever had to go and have a broken bone set for your child? Or had stitches put in? Wasn't it awful knowing your child was in pain but knowing at the same time that they just had to go through it? A child with cancer is in pain all day, every day, and their parents have to deal with it, have to stay strong all day, every day. The time that your child needs you the most is not the time to melt down....

The stresses and strains of the situation are enough to break any human though, unless there is a strong support network in place. And I don't just mean family; ideally the whole community should pull together to help ensure that the family unit stays strong when there is a child with cancer. Most often one parent has to stop working in order to see to the sick child. Who sees to the other children? Who cooks and cleans the house? Takes children to school and helps them with their homework? Is there enough food in the house now that one salary is gone? Can the family still afford to buy clothes, or do they need some hand-me-downs? Can they pay their bond or rent while still paying for every-increasing medical expenses and travel costs? Will they find themselves in a position that they simply can't afford more treatment?

This apparent lack of community spirit in our society is part of the reason for the existence of LFCT; someone was needed to help these brokenhearted families hold the pieces of their lives together. Your support is what allows us to keep doing the work we do; at times that support is overwhelming, and for that we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Your donations have made it possible for families to eat, for children to get medicine, and for parents to be able to spend time with their sick children without having to worry about a million other things. Well done!