Kate Hammond and her husband Kent lost their son Miles to cancer in February 2021, just five days after celebrating his first birthday. He received much of his care at Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which is the closest Paediatric Oncology site to Muskoka and surrounding communities. To honour their son’s memory, Kent and Kate created the Memorial for Miles endowment fund and raised close to $100,000 is three years. The funds went toward the purchase of bassinets for the NICU and paediatric wards, and a monitoring station for paediatric oncology.
“It’s been a really nice way for our family to keep Miles’ memory alive and to help other families,” Kate told 705BLACKFLY.COM.
The family hosted the 4th Annual Memorial for Miles on February 22nd in Huntsville. Thanks to silent auction donours, business sponsors and guests, the evening raised an incredible $42,000.
“A good chunk of that will go towards purchasing a procedure chair for pediatric oncology, so that will be used by kids who are receiving cancer treatment,” Kate says. “It’s just a multi-purpose chair that they can use in the hospital to perform a variety of procedures. And some of the funds will also be going toward parking passes for families in need for kids who are on cancer treatment.”
Donations can still be made on the Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital Foundation ‘s website. Please specify that your donation is for the Memorial For Miles fund.
Please watch our video for our conversation with Kate.
