KidsAbility Foundation respects your privacy. We do not rent, sell or trade our mailing lists. Periodically we may share information about KidsAbility and KidsAbility Foundation by mail and email. This may include our annual report, event invitations, newsletters and updates concerning KidsAbility and its needs. If at any time you wish to be removed from our list or require information about our privacy procedures, simply contact us by phone at 519-886-8886 ext. 1201.

Thousands of brighter futures because of you!

KidsAbility Foundation 500 Hallmark Drive

Waterloo, Ontario N2K 3P5

Like us on Facebook! kidsability.ca

Honouring a loved-one through a gift made to KidsAbility is a thoughtful way to celebrate a milestone

or pay tribute to the life of someone special.

The following individuals have been honoured through Tribute Gifts to KidsAbility.

Honour someone special with a Tribute Gift to KidsAbility

Visit our website for more information

Mac BenhamAlex BrownKathy CassidyBob CassidyKathy CassidyPenny ConradTheo Jackson CuthbertDan & Marilyn DaltonWendy DonaldsonBruce EdwardsMarjorie EdwardsSusan GrandeKristopher Granger Bea HenryJohn HockneyBetty & Stan MacDonaldShirley MillsJoyce NelsonClaudia PaezStephanie PrysnukTerri ReedsSteven and Corrie ShellsEd Simon

Helen AllgeierDylan AustArthur BennettDorothy BirdDavid BrittendenBetty BurnettArley CarterJemima CarterBen CaslickStuart CraneEleanor DenisonMarguerite HeffernanDoris HillDwight KellermanReginald LinderAgnes MantellMorris MastersGeorge McKeeMorgan Enns ModoloChristina Mol

Ethel NahrgangHans NehrenheimShirley RiddellNick SchuldeDoreen SmithJames SnyderJohn SosnoskiLynne ThompsonJerry VictorHeidi WallisCatherine Wellein

Tribute Gifts Memorial Gifts

Point, Scan, & Donate

kidsability.ca

Follow us @KidsAbility

Two Blue Eyes + One Pink Smile = Thousands of Smiles!

Home Hardware chq presentation photo and info.

Congratulations!KidsAbility Foundation congratulates Bob Blowes on being the 2010 recipient of the Elaine Ormston Outstanding Supporter Butterfly Award.

Thank you for your continued support, Bob!Bob Blowes is pictured accepting the award with his parents and wife, Judi.

KidsAbility Foundation congratulates local artist and dedicated KidsAbility supporter Peter Etril Snyder on his recent Lifetime Achievement Award presented by The Arts Awards Waterloo Region.

Peter Etril SnyderKidsAbility Supporter

You have helped to make possible the many successes, achievements and joys that we have witnessed through your most generous support. We are so grateful that you chose to partner with us to provide every child the best life possible. You make a difference, and because of you, over the past 12 months KidsAbility:

provided high quality medical care, therapy and support to 4,496 children and their families;

worked closely with medical students at McMaster University to help future doctors learn about children and their families with special needs. This hands-on training will help to enhance their knowledge and to impact the quality of medical services they provide to families in the future;

hosted our annual Autism Forum in June, an event that brought together leaders in the field of Autism Spectrum Disorder with parents, service providers and local doctors to continue to improve a greater understanding and approach to helping children and families with ASD;

moved into our new Kitchener site that will improve access for over 700 local children and families in Kitchener and reduce the space problems at our Waterloo site; and

welcomed Dr. Karen Backway who joined the KidsAbility staff on a part-time, weekly basis while Developmental Pediatricians Dr. William J. Mahoney and Dr. Olaf Kraus de Camargo began to provide outreach clinics at KidsAbility sites in Waterloo Region.

Meet our 2011-2012 Ambassadors!

(inside)

I have left a gift to KidsAbility in my will. I would like more information about leaving a gift to KidsAbilty in my will. Please contact me to arrange for a personal tour of KidsAbility. I wish to make a gift to KidsAbility.

Name: ___________________________________________

Street: ___________________________________________

City: _______________________ Postal Code: ____________

Email: ___________________________________________

Phone: ( ) _________________________

If applicable:

Amount: $ _________ I wish to give anonymously and not be named in any Foundation materials.

Cheque/Cash Visa Master Card American Express

Card #: ______________________________ Expiry: ___/___

Signature: ________________________ Tax receipts will be issued for all donations over $10. Gifts of $1,000 or more will be listed in an annual publication.

Don’t be surprised if a tasty treat is smiling back at you when you visit a Tim Hortons store. From September 19th - 26th, when you purchase a Smile Cookie in Kitchener-Waterloo, 100% of the proceeds will help to provide therapy and support services to 4,496 children and youth with special needs at KidsAbility.

Last year, your generous support helped us raise over $78,000. Thank you for supporting this unique campaign that, since 1996, has been providing local children’s charities with much-needed funds.

The Smile Cookie program is a fun way for Tim Hortons store owners to give back to the community and make a difference locally. Who knew that making a difference could taste so good?!

So smile…your sweet treat will make a difference!

2011 Fall Update

Meet Our 2011-2012 Ambassadors!Graydon - Kitchener-Waterloo Ambassador Carly - Cambridge Ambassador

Lauren - Guelph-Wellington Ambassador

“We didn’t know what KidsAbility was or that it even existed--we hadn’t needed it.”

Since they had two healthy young girls at home, KidsAbility was not an organization that was on this young family’s radar. When Sandra and Jamie, along with their two older daughters, Hazel and Lauren, welcomed Carly into their lives, KidsAbility became, as they describe it: essential.

Carly has Down syndrome which occurs in one in every 800 babies in Canada when an individual has three, rather than two, copies of the 21st chromosome. This additional genetic material alters the course of development and causes the characteristics associated with Down syndrome.

One of the biggest challenges for children with Down syndrome is finding effective methods of helping each individual child to learn, develop and grow in a way that is going to make personal sense. Each child is very unique and early intervention can help identify the best teaching methods to maximize that child’s full potential. Carly has been benefitting from therapy at KidsAbility since she was only a few months old. Early intervention has played a very key

role in the development of this bubbly 15-month-old little girl. She is quick to smile and wave at anyone she meets. She loves to stand too, a skill that she has worked very hard on thanks to the therapy she receives at KidsAbility. Your support means that Carly is able to receive the care she deserves in her own community.

She’s fearless. Climbing over chairs, jumping on her trampoline and chasing after her brother are all things that Lauren loves to do. She delights in every moment and is working very hard with the therapists at KidsAbility to be able to keep up with kids her age. Right now, she simply can’t.

Lauren was born with Noonan Syndrome, a rare and complicated disorder that has put many large obstacles in her way. Currently, Lauren’s biggest obstacle of the year has been stamina.

Noonan Syndrome is a genetic condition that affects physical and sometimes cognitive development. Lauren has quite a list of personal characteristics. She looks a bit different and her heart has defects. Her growth is slow, her muscles have low tone and her joints are overly flexible. She has digestive issues, hearing problems, skeletal deformities and the potential for significant heart failure later on.

These complications, and more, are tied to Noonan Syndrome.

It’s a part of her, but it is not WHO she is.

She has Noonan Syndrome but she is perfect.

Lauren learned how to walk. She has learned how to pedal her bike--and her family is grateful for the freedom and independence that she has gained through the many services she has benefitted from at KidsAbility. Lauren is happy to be a child who gets to do the same things that her older brother Roman gets to. This is what it is all about. It’s about helping every child to live the best and most fulfilling life possible.

You gave...and because of that, Graydon gave too. He gave back his wheelchair.

Through your faithful donations and support, kids like Graydon are being empowered to realize their dreams and, as a result, Graydon and his family donated his wheelchair to help other kids because he doesn’t need it anymore.

What a phenomenal gift.

Graydon’s parents, Deirdre and Peter, brought him to KidsAbility when he was 18-months-old. He was not able to sit-up on his own or crawl. A wheelchair soon became a fixture in Graydon’s life.

Over the years, Graydon benefitted from physiotherapy, occupational and speech therapies. He has been involved in the ECE program, the school program as well as numerous camps and sports activities. He knows how important KidsAbility is and what it means to kids like him.

Graydon’s congenital Muscular Dystrophy has meant that being able to walk and talk would not be easy tasks. However, your support has meant quality and truly life-changing therapy and support services to allow him to break free of his wheelchair and take steps--on his own--to a life of independence.

It is hard to fathom that it was only nine short months ago when KidsAbility embarked upon a campaign to raise the funds needed for a new Kitchener site; one that would mean improved access to life-changing services for over 700 children and their families.

It is with the utmost gratitude that, through your incredible generosity, our therapists and staff are now in their new home on 65 Hanson Avenue in Kitchener, inside the newly design Family Centre.

This is a very exciting chapter for KidsAbility and will allow us to better serve the children and families in our community by providing care much closer to home. You are a part of this story and together we are building a brighter future for our kids.

To check out what’s behind these doors in our new Kitchener Site, visit us on Facebook!

Building a brighter future...

together!

Want asneak peek?

KidsAbility Foundation respects your privacy. We do not rent, sell or trade our mailing lists. Periodically we may share information about KidsAbility and KidsAbility Foundation by mail and email. This may include our annual report, event invitations, newsletters and updates concerning KidsAbility and its needs. If at any time you wish to be removed from our list or require information about our privacy procedures, simply contact us by phone at 519-886-8886 ext. 1201.

Thousands of brighter futures because of you!

KidsAbility Foundation 500 Hallmark Drive

Waterloo, Ontario N2K 3P5

Like us on Facebook! kidsability.ca

Honouring a loved-one through a gift made to KidsAbility is a thoughtful way to celebrate a milestone

or pay tribute to the life of someone special.

The following individuals have been honoured through Tribute Gifts to KidsAbility.

Honour someone special with a Tribute Gift to KidsAbility

Visit our website for more information

Mac BenhamAlex BrownKathy CassidyBob CassidyKathy CassidyPenny ConradTheo Jackson CuthbertDan & Marilyn DaltonWendy DonaldsonBruce EdwardsMarjorie EdwardsSusan GrandeKristopher Granger Bea HenryJohn HockneyBetty & Stan MacDonaldShirley MillsJoyce NelsonClaudia PaezStephanie PrysnukTerri ReedsSteven and Corrie ShellsEd Simon

Helen AllgeierDylan AustArthur BennettDorothy BirdDavid BrittendenBetty BurnettArley CarterJemima CarterBen CaslickStuart CraneEleanor DenisonMarguerite HeffernanDoris HillDwight KellermanReginald LinderAgnes MantellMorris MastersGeorge McKeeMorgan Enns ModoloChristina Mol

Ethel NahrgangHans NehrenheimShirley RiddellNick SchuldeDoreen SmithJames SnyderJohn SosnoskiLynne ThompsonJerry VictorHeidi WallisCatherine Wellein

Tribute Gifts Memorial Gifts

Point, Scan, & Donate

kidsability.ca

Follow us @KidsAbility

Two Blue Eyes + One Pink Smile = Thousands of Smiles!

Home Hardware chq presentation photo and info.

Congratulations!KidsAbility Foundation congratulates Bob Blowes on being the 2010 recipient of the Elaine Ormston Outstanding Supporter Butterfly Award.

Thank you for your continued support, Bob!Bob Blowes is pictured accepting the award with his parents and wife, Judi.

KidsAbility Foundation congratulates local artist and dedicated KidsAbility supporter Peter Etril Snyder on his recent Lifetime Achievement Award presented by The Arts Awards Waterloo Region.

Peter Etril SnyderKidsAbility Supporter

You have helped to make possible the many successes, achievements and joys that we have witnessed through your most generous support. We are so grateful that you chose to partner with us to provide every child the best life possible. You make a difference, and because of you, over the past 12 months KidsAbility:

provided high quality medical care, therapy and support to 4,496 children and their families;

worked closely with medical students at McMaster University to help future doctors learn about children and their families with special needs. This hands-on training will help to enhance their knowledge and to impact the quality of medical services they provide to families in the future;

hosted our annual Autism Forum in June, an event that brought together leaders in the field of Autism Spectrum Disorder with parents, service providers and local doctors to continue to improve a greater understanding and approach to helping children and families with ASD;

moved into our new Kitchener site that will improve access for over 700 local children and families in Kitchener and reduce the space problems at our Waterloo site; and

welcomed Dr. Karen Backway who joined the KidsAbility staff on a part-time, weekly basis while Developmental Pediatricians Dr. William J. Mahoney and Dr. Olaf Kraus de Camargo began to provide outreach clinics at KidsAbility sites in Waterloo Region.

Meet our 2011-2012 Ambassadors!

(inside)

I have left a gift to KidsAbility in my will. I would like more information about leaving a gift to KidsAbilty in my will. Please contact me to arrange for a personal tour of KidsAbility. I wish to make a gift to KidsAbility.

Name: ___________________________________________

Street: ___________________________________________

City: _______________________ Postal Code: ____________

Email: ___________________________________________

Phone: ( ) _________________________

If applicable:

Amount: $ _________ I wish to give anonymously and not be named in any Foundation materials.

Cheque/Cash Visa Master Card American Express

Card #: ______________________________ Expiry: ___/___

Signature: ________________________ Tax receipts will be issued for all donations over $10. Gifts of $1,000 or more will be listed in an annual publication.

Don’t be surprised if a tasty treat is smiling back at you when you visit a Tim Hortons store. From September 19th - 26th, when you purchase a Smile Cookie in Kitchener-Waterloo, 100% of the proceeds will help to provide therapy and support services to 4,496 children and youth with special needs at KidsAbility.

Last year, your generous support helped us raise over $78,000. Thank you for supporting this unique campaign that, since 1996, has been providing local children’s charities with much-needed funds.

The Smile Cookie program is a fun way for Tim Hortons store owners to give back to the community and make a difference locally. Who knew that making a difference could taste so good?!

So smile…your sweet treat will make a difference!

2011 Fall Update