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16 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday September 17, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com Living Oakville Beaver LIVING EDITOR: ANGELA BLACKBURN By Angela Blackburn OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Phone: 905-845-3824, ext. 248 Fax: 905-337-5567 e-mail: ablackburn@oakvillebeaver.com Investing in the benefit of experience for kids T he price tag is $3 million -- and worth every penny. What parent wouldn't give everything they have to their child? Parents of children served by the Darling Home for Kids (formerly Rose Cherry's Home) have often given everything they have, and have in them -- as well as given up on dreams, too -- before they turn to the home for help. For parents, it offers some space to do something other than care for their highly dependent, medically needy child. Maybe a short trip, or going somewhere with their other kids, or just a few minutes to themselves. In the process, the home offers much more than a break for parents -- for the kids, it's quality of life. For those nearing the end of their life, it is an upbeat, secure place to be as their medical needs are met and their family is near. For those there so their parents can get a break, it is like a camp experience -- offering experiences as near tion, but recalls the impact of his experiences, like the time he lost air hockey matches to a boy, now deceased, who was just thrilled at being "world champ." "He died world champ," said Bowker. The businessman also recalls being moved to tears after a man, upon checking his MFTD child into the home at Christmas, cried as he thanked Bowker for providing the first opportunity to spend Christmas with his other children. "These are real people, these are real lives," said Bowker. He underlines the importance of recognizing that circumstances, like a chronically-ill child, often make people in the general population recoil at the great tragedy of it all, but that the shock and trauma that leads to that reaction is something the families and children involved have already come to terms with, if not accepted. Theirs is not the life that is the ideal. Theirs is something different. FOR KIDS: Left, David Bowker, past chair of the Darling Home for Kids, which has officially launched its Phase II capital campaign in order to expand the home and the experience it provides for children like Dylan, right. to cherished childhood joys like a visit to the park, swimming or a carnival as these children will ever get. David Bowker, past chair of The Cedarbrook Society, which founded the home, used to sit on the board of Oaklands Regional Centre in the 1980s as government moved to deinstitutionalization. Bowker knew times would get really tough for families of terminally-ill children and bring prolonged stress for parents of children deemed MFTD (medically fragile and technology-dependent) and that's why the home was ultimately founded. As the shovels hit the ground this month, the fundraising campaign for Phase II of the Darling Home for Kids kicked off -- officially last night at the Cucci Restaurant on Jones Street. Bowker says $1 million has already been raised in the ambitious 2008 campaign that aims to, by year's end, collect all $3 million needed to add additional rooms to the home -- four respite and one palliative care bedrooms -- as well as a family room, craft room and an expanded kitchen. As Bowker watched deinstitutionalization unfold two decades ago, he knew moving chronically-ill children or those who depend on technology like wheelchairs or a breathing apparatus back into the community would place a huge stress on their families. As the transition occurred, Bowker and Maggie Waligora, a woman who provided nursing care for families, began to envision a respite/palliative care home. Bowker has no personal connec- See Making page 19 HYDROPOOL FALL IN LOVE EVENT ore One M to reasonn Fall i Love Hot Tub Factory Outlet Ask about our inventory reduction event Save on in Stock s b Hot Tu s Hot Tub ly n From O Don't 6 r Pay fohs t Mon FACTORY OUTLET SHOWROOM WINSTON CHURCHILL BLVD. DUNDAS ROAD HAMPSHIRE GATE DOVER GATE HWY. 403 BRISTOL CIRCLE CANADIAN MADE Q.E.W. $ Feature product swim in place pools now with salt water 29r95 o $ 19/wk. O.A.C. S STORE HOURS M MON.-TUES. W WED. T THUR. FRI. FR S SAT. 10-6 10-8 10­8 10-6 10-5 Oakville Factory Outlet 2528 Bristol Circle (Winston Churchill/ Dundas) S SUN. 12-5 (905) 829-4991 www.hydropoolhottubs.com Self-Cleaning Hot Tubs with Salt Water Technology