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We Believe — Believe In Tomorrow provides exceptional hospital and respite housing services to critically ill children and their families. We believe in keeping families together during a child’s medical crisis, and that the gentle cadence of normal family life has a powerful influence on the healing process.
Love a good fight? A challenge? Boats? Water? Watching people complete the impossible? Watch as five men and one woman put their paddles to the water September 21. Do more than watch, and get in on the action by signing up for our Facebook page to track their progress, following BelieveInTom on Twitter, or helping Team Max’s and Team Mama’s reach their fundraising goal. Either way you’ll be participating in the most unique event of the organization’s history. View the ad, which recently ran in the City Paper, for more details. Or, visit the Battle of the Paddles web page.
Much-needed getaway
Young leukemia patient and family get week’s lodging for Ocean City vacation, courtesy of a local foundationBy Joe Burris, The Baltimore Sun
It's hard to take a vacation from leukemia, but for a precious week in Ocean City, 7-year-old Tomas Nichols and his family did their best.
Their respite might not have been as loud and adventure-filled as that of other families - they spent much of their time relaxing on a beach house deck - but for them, it was a thrill just to be in a different, peaceful place. The gift of time away came from a Baltimore-based foundation, which provided the beach house for free.
"The kids are having fun; we have absolutely nothing to do," Paul Nichols, whose son was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia about two years ago, said during the family's recent beach visit. "We're still doing the medication, all the chemo he takes, but it's in a completely different environment."
The Nicholses, from Stafford, Va., are among the families of critically ill children who have taken advantage of the Ocean City-area properties owned by Believe in Tomorrow. The foundation was one of the first charities in the country, its founder says, to establish permanent vacation homes that offer families enduring the strain of a child's illness the simple gift of an inviting change of scene.
Tomas, a second-grader who enjoys soccer, reading and the Transformers action series, got a chance to slither down a water slide and steer a Coast Guard cutter during his vacation week. His leukemia has been in remission, and he is now undergoing a long-term treatment program. His father, a retired Marine, says the family heard about Believe in Tomorrow last year while Tomas was being treated at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Dear BIT Foundation, We can’t thank you enough for a wonderful weekend. It was just what we needed – some time together as a family in such a wonderful place. This is the one-year anniversary of Ethan’s diagnosis and surgery. It was weighing on our minds at home, but we didn’t think of it once while here. The welcome basket was a fun start to the trip for all of us! The smiles and indoor golf started right away.
Thank you for thinking of so much and providing for such a wonderful time. It was needed more than you know.
The Reames Family
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May 30, 2009
Even during a very rainy weekend, we had fun the whole time. The highlight was the pool at Wisp. Please thank them for being so gracious. The fun is not ending. Ethan will love (experiencing) the Western Maryland Railroad on the way home.When times get rough, you have to get creative. Over the past 26 years, Believe In Tomorrow has seen hope manifest itself in inspiring ways: from the Lacrosse fields of Maryland to the base of the Grand Canyon and from a 6K road race to 166 mile Battle of the Paddles kayak competition.
Two businesses perpetuate the theory, throwing cash on walls and pouring vintages in glasses to support a cause they believe in.
In Ocean City, JC’s Northside Pub converted a unique bar game into an effort to get everyone who enters their bar to donate – by tacking signed dollars on their walls and ceilings.
The idea came from bar owner Jeff Edwards, who turned the plastering of signatures around his bar into a fundraising opportunity, supporting The Children’s House By The Sea. Edwards told Ocean City Today that most people ask about the money hanging above them as they sip their pint, and usually contribute.
On December 18, Edwards plans to collect the cash on the ceiling and walls and donate it to Believe In Tomorrow.
Miles from the beach, Ellicott City’s Wine Bin raised its glasses in a toast to Believe In Tomorrow as its designated charity for the month of July.
The title means Believe In Tomorrow will receive 5 percent of profits earned each Wednesday of the month. Additionally, Wine Bin held two wine tastings on July 15 and 29. Supporters came out to sample fine wines, beer, and cheeses, knowing their dollars would go to providing services for critically ill children and their families.
Hospital Spotlight: The Schmoll Family, Silencing the Skeptics
When Zak Schmoll was initially diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), his parents were told he wouldn’t live to celebrate his second birthday. Fifteen years, countless surgeries and a high school graduation later, Zak will head to the University of Vermont on full scholarship this Fall.
Zak was second in his class at Spaulding High School and was one of the commencement speakers at his graduation ceremony, in Barre, Vt. His topic? Success.
Zak and his dad, Mark, mom, Joan, and sister, Darcy, have been regular guests at the Believe In Tomorrow Children’s House at Johns Hopkins for 15 years. With Zak’s 18th birthday approaching, he will also be graduating from Believe In Tomorrow’s programs (the foundation only serves families caring for critically ill children 17 years and younger)...
Believe In Tomorrow's 27th Annual Benefit and Auction
Get dressed to impress for Believe In Tomorrow’s 27th Annual Benefit & Auction.
Join Fashion Icon Stacy London, host of TLC’s What Not to Wear and Style Correspondent for NBC’s TODAY Show, as she works the Orange Carpet and hosts Believe In Tomorrow’s biggest fund-raiser of the year. Start channeling the Hamptons and get set to party at one of the newest and most unique venues in town!
Saturday, October 3, 2009
7:00 – 11:00 PM
Belfast Manor, Sparks Md.
Dine-around, cocktails, silent/live auction
Tickets $100.00
You can be fashionably late – but not too late! Reserve your space now to have the opportunity to bid on items from Volleyball pro, Gabby Reece, Philippe Cousteau (Grandson of the legendary Jacques) and Stacy London!
Contact Meredith Isenberg at 800 933-5470 or misenberg@believeintomorrow.org for more information.
Respite Spotlight: The Kretz Family, All Smiles
Minutes after doctors showed Cheryl Kretz the CAT scans indicating a brain tumor at the center of her son, Mack’s, brain, she hopped on an ambulance with Mack and sat next to his stretcher as the ambulance drove an hour up route 15 from Gettysburg, Pa. to Hershey, Pa., sirens blaring full blast.
“We had about five to 10 minutes to process what was going on,” says Kretz. “Of course, we were crying. The doctors were crying too.”
A year and a half after diagnosis in January 2008, the Kretz family – particularly Mack and his father, Robert Kretz – welled up again, but this time the tears were positive. They had just finished their respite at the Believe In Tomorrow House on Wisp Mountain, and the family grew sad at the thought of leaving the house that unexpectedly drew them away from routine hospital visits and back together.
Performing Again: What One Local Radio Host is Doing for Critically Ill Children
All Believe In Tomorrow children, in treatment or not, leave the beach feeling like they are someone special. Matisse Reid, 9, bid goodbye to Ocean City with evidence that she was someone special: a disc jockey on a popular Eastern Shore morning radio show.
“She’s a performer. She loves singing, dancing, musical instruments,” says Jodee Reid, Matisse’s mother.
Thanks to David “Bulldog” Rothner of the “Rude Awaking Show” on WOZM Ocean 98, Matisse could showcase her performing skills during the latter end of her June stay at the Believe In Tomorrow House By The Sea. Years of illness forced Matisse to quit her ballet classes in New Zealand, where the Reid’s are originally from. The new partnership allowed Reid a creative outlet, while her brothers and sister found activities at the beach to fit their interests.
A big Believe In Tomorrow Shout Out for Seaboard Media’s Jake Robinson!
The dolphins aren’t the only thing to see along Ocean’s City’s 10-mile coastline. Next time you’re at the beach – look for the giant digital flat screen that travels up the coast line onboard a 72-foot boat. Jake Robinson is donating time and space on his digital outdoor advertising screen to help promote Believe In Tomorrow National Children’s Foundation. For more information about this unique form of messaging, check out www.theseaboard.com.
Featured Volunteer Opportunity
Calling all expert framers: the Believe In Tomorrow Children’s House at Johns Hopkins Hospital has dozens of new artwork pieces from children in Believe In Tomorrow programs ready to hang on the walls in shared hallways and common rooms. The staff is looking for volunteers with framing experience to help make this project a reality. Your efforts will be viewed by thousands of visitors each month and the vibrancy each child’s drawing will bring to the house will last a lifetime.
Volunteer of the Month: Families in the Fold
“We are so very grateful to all of our volunteers and are humbled by those who have also been guests at our hospital houses, respite houses or participated in any of our Hands On Adventure programs. We are humbled by your courage and honored by your willingness to give back to Believe In Tomorrow.”
Brian Morrison, Founder & CEO
Early into her first pregnancy, after receiving word from her doctor that the baby she was carrying wasn’t going to make it, Juli Farley and her husband, James Farley, decided to forgo a procedure to end the pregnancy and let nature take its course.
Turns out, Juli was actually carrying twins, and although she lost one, she was able to carry the surviving twin, who as it turns out was in a big hurry to meet his mom and dad.