Page 6 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • August 21, 2013 Our hat’s off to The Lapinski Foundation for includ- ing ECF as a recipient of the funds raised at their annual Beefsteak Dinner. Thanks to Miss Patti’s School of Dance in Midland Park for taking several ECF families to see “Cinderella” in New York City. Our families currently need the following items: • New twin and queen-size sheets • Stage 3 and 4 diapers and baby wipes • Cake mix and icing for birthday bags • A computer hard drive • Microwaves and toaster ovens • Test strips for one of our diabetic children • New or gently-used air conditioners Most of all, we are looking for several volunteers who want to deliver food. Spanish-speaking individuals are preferred, but knowledge of Spanish is not required. We need drivers to deliver to Bergen and Essex counties. Our pantry is now running low. Please consider doing a fall food collection for us! Meet Megan: Three-year-old Megan was a healthy baby who started to reach her milestones like any other child. As she started to take her first steps she seemed to be a very happy baby, but at 14 months, she started to regress. Megan became very fatigued, cried a lot, and was not interested in walking. Mom and Dad took her to the doctors who had blood work done. The results showed that Megan’s white blood cell count was extremely high and that she had leukemia. Megan had three rounds of chemotherapy followed by a bone marrow transplant, which her parents hoped would be the thing that would give them their little girl back. However, her counts weren’t coming up. Megan needed a second transplant just one month after the first transplant. Finally, things started going well and Megan was regaining her ability to walk. Then she was struck with pneumonia. She had a difficult time fighting this illness and ended up in the ICU for three months on life support. The doctors started to give up on her, and were saying if she did come out of this they couldn’t say what her quality of life would be like. Finally, Megan regained her breathing. The doctors said no one ever survived what she went through. How- ever, Megan was so debilitated she couldn’t even cry because her vocal cords were not working. She couldn’t sit up or even move her legs and arms. She needed inten- sive therapy. She needed a feeding tube because she couldn’t eat and keep things down. They taught her to sign so she could make her needs known. Things were starting to get better and she was start- ing to walk again when she tripped over her own feet, fell, and broke her femur. Megan ended up in a cast from the waist down for about six weeks. During this time, she ended up with another virus that nearly took her life. She ended up back in the ICU because her sodium level was very high and she was losing a lot of fluid. Megan got better and was discharged from the hospital. Her cast was removed. The next day, while someone was holding her hand, she fell again and broke her other leg. Megan is in remission, but has other complications and continues to need physical therapy. She is seeing the transplant team every six months. They are also still trying to find out if she was affected cognitively, but they cannot test her until she is seven years old. Despite this incredible journey, Megan is a very happy child. She would love a bunk bed in girly colors that has storage. Please note that Megan lives about two hours from our Midland Park office, so gift cards to a store like Target would be the best option. We rely on our local community to help support our families. Many of them do not have the financial or emo- tional support to help them get through a major illness like cancer. Please remember that we do not charge any- thing for our services. We rely on you! If your company has a charitable giving program, please let us know. The community can help in a variety of ways. Turn your event into a fundraiser, and collect checks or gift cards for our families. Your efforts help us to help fami- lies in many ways, including sending a case worker to visit the families at their home or in the hospital. This support for the kids, their siblings, and parents is cru- cial. Get your kids involved, too. Some have held sales or events and donated the proceeds to ECF. Is your Cub Scout or Girl Scout Troop looking to earn badges? Call us for some ideas to get creative and have fun while learning about philanthropy! Emmanuel Cancer Foundation is now celebrating 30 years of providing exceptional free services to families all over New Jersey. We welcome members of the com- munity to make a contribution to honor this milestone. Just imagine how much good we could do with $30 from every reader! ECF is seeking volunteers to help with a 2013 holi- day party for our families. If you can provide food, gifts, activities, or crafts for our kids and their families, please call. If you have a few hours a week to spare, consider becoming a volunteer, or just stop by and meet with us, take a look at our pantry, and see what ECF is all about. Call (201) 612-8118 before you stop by. Please do not leave items at the center without checking with us first. Our storage space is limited. The Northern Regional Center is located at 174 Paterson Avenue in Midland Park. Visit us on the web at www.emmanuelcancer.org. As always, thank you for helping the children and their families!