Our People. Our Programs. Our Purpose.

From now until November 30, Starlight corporate partner Wyndham Worldwide will donate $1 to its Wishes by Wyndham program for every new person who “Likes” the Wyndham Worldwide Facebook page.

Wishes by Wyndham, in turn, will make a donation to each of its signature charities, Association of Hole in the Wall Camps, Christel House International and Starlight, with an opportunity to reach up to a $60,000 donation (up to $20,000 per charity)!

To ‘Like’ Wyndham Worldwide or for more information, please visit www.facebook.com/wyndhamworldwide. In addition to supporting Wishes by Wyndham and its signature charities, the Wyndham Worldwide Facebook page provides fun and exciting content. From helpful travel tips and money-saving deals to information on all of its unique hospitality offerings, the Wyndham Worldwide Facebook page has something ‘For every kind of traveler. For Every Kind of Trip.’  

The campaign runs until November 30, so begin spreading the word! 

by Justine Alberto, Great Escapes Coordinator

Going back to school CAN be all fun and games—ask our Starlight families in San Francisco, who recently gathered at a local Office Depot for a ‘Shop Till You Drop’ Great Escape.

Upon arrival, families were given a list of school supplies and told the supplies were hidden throughout the store. Their mission: to put their hunting skills to the test and find them!

Starlight children ran all around the store uncovering their hidden treasures. The extra bonus: they were able to pick supplies in their favorite color.

Single subject notebooks were also up for grabs. Starlight children were asked to place their hands inside backpacks—without any peeking!—to guess the mystery items that were inside.

Once a child collected all of his school supplies, he earned the opportunity to pick a backpack of his choice—with a little work involved. In each backpack, there was a clue. For instance, “I’m a math master. 1+1. 2+2. Any problem, I’ll solve for you. What am I?” Once a child has his answer, he would run through the store to find the item and claim his backpack.

(The answer was ‘calculator,’ by the way.) :)

The fun and unique backpacks given to Starlight children were generously donated by Angel Street Design.

Everyone caught their breaths later that evening at a pizza dinner, courtesy of Red Brick Pizza in Millbrae.

Tired, full and carrying backpacks filled with new supplies for the school year, families were sent home with Nubi Yogurt to enjoy the rest of their night.

Watch Starlight child Victor and his sister Sasha rummage through baskets full of school supplies to find four items marked with Starlight stickers. Listen closely to hear Victor announce, "I think I found one!" And then: "When are we going for pizza?"

Too cute. 

Thanks to the generosity of California Pizza Kitchen, more than 200 of Starlight’s seriously ill children and family members from the Los Angeles County area recently enjoyed a CPKids Camp Great Escape at Bonelli Park in San Dimas.

As a way to fuel the much-needed energy for the warm summer afternoon, California Pizza Kitchen provided delicious pizza, salad and pasta for the crowd.

After lunch, the fun began.

The picnic area came alive, thanks to the music of a live DJ. However, families created their own harmony—playing ping pong, giant Jenga and pick-up baseball, climbing rock walls, jumping in bounce houses, participating in potato sack races and dance freeze contests, receiving airbrush tattoos, and making arts and crafts. Children also competed for prizes in a prize walk—a modified version of the cake walk—and crossed their fingers in the hopes of being picked the lucky winner during a series of raffles.

Another big hit that afternoon were the StarPower Ambassadors, young recording artists and television and movie actors who use their time and energy on behalf of Starlight families, who arrived to take part in the festivities—Ashley Argota, Nathan Kress, Ashlee Keating, Joey Luthman, Austin Anderson, Allen Alvarado, and Savvy of the pop-duo Savvy and Mandy. The group helped the children set a fashion trend for the day: walking around in an autographed yellow CPKids Camp T-shirt.

Starlight volunteers and employees from California Pizza Kitchen’s local restaurants and corporate office volunteered their time to host the activities and spend time with the families.

All in all, the CPKids Camp Great Escape proved to be a great afternoon filled with play, friendship and lots of laughter.

For more than 25 years, Starlight has been dedicated to helping seriously ill children and their families cope with their pain, fear and isolation through entertainment, education and family activities. The CPKids Camp is part of Starlight’s Great Escapes program, group outings and events that provide families with a chance to bond and recharge outside the hospital environment and away from medical treatments, while at the same time connecting them with other families facing similar challenges to build a network of support.

This is the third year that Starlight and California Pizza Kitchen have partnered to bring CPKids Camp Great Escapes to cities across the country; twenty are scheduled to take place in 2010.

Through a network of chapters and offices, Starlight provides ongoing support to children, parents and siblings in all U.S. states and Canadian provinces with an array of outpatient, hospital-based and Web offerings. Programs are also delivered internationally through affiliates in Australia, Japan and the United Kingdom.

To learn more, visit www.starlight.org/cpk. 

Movie theater chain Muvico Theaters has extended its Free Family Film Festival at select locations in Florida, California and Illinois.

• MUVICO Baywalk 20 (FL)
• MUVICO Hialeah 14 (FL)
• MUVICO Parisian 20 (FL)
• MUVICO Palm Harbor 10 (FL)
• MUVICO Pompano 18 (FL)
• MUVICO Starlight 20 (FL)
• MUVICO Thousand Oaks 14 (CA)
• MUVICO Rosemont 18 (IL)

The festival will take place every Tuesday and Wednesday until August 18, 2010, and features special kid’s combos at concession stands. For each kid’s combo sold, Muvico will donate $1 to Starlight.

Visit www.muvico.com/freefilmfest for more information and please spread the word! 

When my daughter Kyiha was just 17 months old, she went on a camping trip with her father and fell into a fire pit that had been left to burn itself out. She suffered third degree burns to both hands and second degree burns on her stomach and left knee.

She was air-vaced to The Arizona Burn Center where she spent six weeks receiving skin grafts and having surgeries. All in all, my little girl went under anesthesia seven different times. It was a horribly frightening and uncertain time for us both.

During our stay at the Burn Center, I noticed that renovations were underway on one of their treatment rooms. I learned later that it was to become a Starlight Site Care Room.

When it was finally unveiled, the stark, sterile treatment room had been completely transformed into a child-friendly, jungle-themed room complete with a flat panel television. Where before Kyiha saw that room as a place she didn’t want to go because she was going to get worked on she knew it would hurt, once the room was redesigned her entire outlook on treatments changed. There is so much to distract her! She’ll look around and point things out to me saying "Mommy, there’s a monkey" or "Look at that tree." Or she’ll watch her favorite cartoons on the TV. Her focus is no longer on what’s going to happen next.

We’ve been back to the Burn Center for more surgeries and numerous other procedures and still have a long way to go. Thankfully, Kyiha is so independent that she’s using both of her hands and has actually regained full range of motion. I’m grateful that the Starlight Site Care Room was there for us to make her recovery so much less frightening – it changed our experience.

-Jessica, Kyiha's Mommy