Great Fundraising in Miami

Coffey Burlington, a Miami law firm, hosted a celebrity-filled fundraiser for Podari.Life on January 5, 2017. The elegant event took place at Tanuki Miami Restaurant, and donations went directly to Podari.Life.

Top Russian celebrities like fashion designer Masha Tsigal attended the event, even presenting a heartfelt speech about the non-profit and how its mission impacts the lives of so many Russian children with cancer. Other prominent attendees include fashion designer Fabrice Tardieu, journalist Julia Bordovskikh, television producer Sergey Kalvarsky and the mayor of Bal Harbor Gabriel Groisman.

Coffey Burlington sponsored the fundraiser, and leading U.S. lawyer Kendall Coffey spoke on the importance of Podari.Life’s mission to fight childhood cancer. He shares the non-profit’s belief that money should never be the measure of a child’s life. Mr. Coffey surprised guests with a lively ballroom dance performance by champion dancers Loreta Kriksciukaityte and Aleksandr Skarlato, leaving guests in awe.

Coffey Burlington also organized an art auction for two beautiful pieces of work from Miami's Galleria Ca’ d’Oro. And Hublot displayed their luxury watches for guests to try on during the event. Both businesses donated a portion of proceeds to Podari.Life.
 

Your help in 2016. Thank you.

It is the end of the year — time to sum up what we have reached and, of course, time to make New Year's resolutions. 

We have prepared this document to show you what a difference you make.

It is with your help, that we managed to fund an internship for the first Child Life Certified specialist this year. It is because of you that we managed to make a first a step in transferring CAR T-cell Technology and so many other things — things we would never accomplish without you.

We are more than grateful for your trust and belief! We have so many things planned for next year, and we can't stop dreaming of how many things we can change for the best together. 

Please, take a closer look at our results here: http://www.podari.life/results/

Dolls that cure

Dolls can not only entertain, but also can be used in treatment. It's already interesting when doctor comes in with a doll. But when he explains all the medical manipulations using the doll, the child feels much more secure.

Manikin dolls have been helping clinical psychologists in Dmitriy Rogachev Federal Center for Onco-Hematology (FNKC) for several months. Head of Department of clinical psychology FNKC Alina Khain explains why they are helpful and how children interact with such assistants. 

"My colleagues and I (clinical psychologists) have always used games and toys to help young patients of our clinic to cope with psychological difficulties of the treatment. Our opportunities increased significantly in the past few months thanks to the help of Podari.Life: we received a medical doll Manikin. We are happy to share our first impressions with you. We are still looking at them as at "first" impressions because the possibilities this doll opens seem countless.

First of all, everyone who meets a doctor carrying a very large doll, smiles. One of the most important things a game should provide (and a medical game especially) - positive emotions. Children find themselves in an unusual and frightening situation шт a hospital - everything that was comfortingis now inaccessible. Their home, toys and their usual routine, all the people the love stay at home that is far away now. The parent that arrives in a hospital with a child, is often not in a good emotional state as well and sometimes the emotional state doesn’t let them even play with a child. So when a doctor comes in with a doll - it a very pleasant surprise, and it helps start communication even with the most shy, scared and "closed" children.

The Manikin doll is unusual tool, especially of its size (its size is the one of a one year old child), it attracts attention and children want to touch it. If you look at it closer - it has no hair, and you will see a "tail" of the catheter looking out from under its clothes. This is not only to explain a variety of medical procedures and manipulations to a child: setting the catheter, as well as other puncture operation for example. It is also very useful to make it easier for a child to identify with the doll, to share his worries with its help. It is so much easier toexpress their attitude to the disease, treatment, and all their emotions while playing. This doll can change its face expressions, it can "feel" and thus let our patients share their feelings without fear.

It is very often that the child chooses the role of a parent or a doctor while playing. They feel safe that way. They can play the role of an "expert" and thus regain the so much missed sense of initiative and active position in communication with an adult. When we let the child choose how to play, we help them to restore a sense of control, which is seriously undermined by the disease. The game also provides a convenient language for communication and mutual understanding.

As I already mentioned, Manikin doll is also our assistant in increasing the child's awareness, preparing him to the difficult moments in his treatment. Every child of every age needs to understand specifically what went wrong with his body as well as what is going to happen. Sometimes the game lets us understand what causes the child’s fear.  

While playing kids sometimes asked questions about treatment that they never asked us directly. For example, questions about the reason for their disease. There are also cases when we know that the fear is caused by the forthcoming new type of treatment. So we use Manikin doll to prepare the child psychologically. Just like our foreign colleagues we "study" the procedure with the help of the doll, we try different roles on, make it completely understandable, familiar, "our own". We find the most disturbing elements and in a game we walk through all the ways of psychological support with a child, his parent and the doll. "

Dear friends, this miracle assistant-doll appeared at the FNKC thanks to all of you. And we are very happy that it is now much easier for children to talk about their disease, and therefore to overcome the fears associated with it.     

This not only makes the work of the doctors easier, but also makes the hardest period in life of the entire patient's family much more comfortable.

Yelena is the first of our friends who donated her birthday to Podari.Life

Dear friends!  
Please meet Yelena! She is the first of our friends to run and host her own personal fundraising event to support a very important project - provide a clinical information subscription for Russian oncologists at FNKC. Annual subscription costs up to $28K, but Yelena hopes that her effort will become an initial one and will help Podari.Life raise this significant sum of money. 

Her friends supported the pledge and donated almost $1,400 at her birthday party to this specific goal.

Many thanks to Yelena and her friends! 
Want to follow the cause and learn more on how to create and host your personal fundraising event?

Please contact us.

Donate

That's how your donations are working

Here is one of the stories to show what you do to make future of our kids better.

Eight out of ten children diagnosed with "acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)", strange as it may sound are the lucky ones. There is a sufficiently effective protocol of the cancer treatment developed for them as well as a selection of drugs available to hospitals. If this treatment is applied on time at a modern research hospital such as FNKС (Federal Oncohematological Center), the therapy provides the high level of survival.

For the remaining 20% children who confront ALL the standard therapy is ineffective... Most of them couldn't be cured even by with bone marrow transplantation. Until recently, doctors had no effective tool to fight this kind of cancer. Since the beginning of the 2010s the world's leading cancer labs - especially ones in the United States - are working on a technology called Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy (therapy with T cells with the chimeric receptor to an antigen).

The appearance of CAR T-Cell method has become possible as a result of both radical progress in understanding the nature of cancer as a disease, and in connection with the development of genetic engineering technology that occurred after a complete translation of human genome. 

The method uses patient’s blood T-cells that are rebuilt in the genetics laboratory to carry specific antigens that confront cancer and then introduced back into the blood. They attack other cancer cells in blood, providing the cure to a patient. To date, CAR T-Cell Therapy remains in an experimental stage, with multiple clinical trials conducted. Such tests are held in the US and Europe, but not yet available for young patients in Russia.

Podari.Life joined forces with FNKC  and the sister Russian charity «Podari Zhizn» to bring the essential cure opportunity to Russian kids. We started the project with a purpose to include Russian patients into CAR T-cell therapy clinical trials. This is a complex scientific and administrative process (technology transfer). The first step is to receive the consent of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation: the institution requires a special documentation for the method that corresponds to Russian medical standards. This is a precluding condition to make CAR T-cell therapy available for patients in Russia. Another side of the story is to ensure the understanding from the authors and patent owners in the US that Russia has scientists and doctors who are able to use CAR T-cell therapy and achieve a positive result.

Today we are pleased to announce to our donors and supporters that with your generous help, we made the first step on this long road. Podari.Life invested the creation of the clinical description of CAR T-cell therapy under the Russian ministerial standard. The document will be submitted to the Russian Ministry of Health to obtain consent for conducting the tests. For Podari.Life this step is very important also because it is fully consistent with our mission of public charity - to promote the development and dissemination of knowledge, allowing better and more efficient fight with child cancer in Russia.

Thanks to your donations we were able to invest $5,000 towards this important goal. We'll keep you updated on further advancement. 

Music and Poetry

We held our inaugural fundraising event on June 7th — an Evening of Music and Poetry, featuring the actress Chulpan Khamatova, who is a co-founder of our Russian sister charity “Podari Zhizn” Foundation,  and violinist Dmitri Berlinsky.  

We managed to raise $29 745!

The event took place at Bonhams Auction House.  Chulpan Khamatova's recital of the poetry of Boris Pasternak and Marina Tsvetaeva was intertwined and overlaid with the Quintet of Dmitry Shostakovich, where Dmitri Berlinsky was joined by four distinguished musicians - Leon Livshin, Anna Rabinova, Richard Young and Timotheos Petrin.  

"This Quintet by Shostakovich has a lot of children's spontaneity to it, naivety and purity despite the fact that it was written during a very tragic period of history, back in 1940" said Dmitri Berlinsky. "Pasternak and Tsvetaeva created their poetry at that same time, which is why it echoes the music of Shostakovich. We are happy to present a dialogue of this poetry and music for the first time".

Dmitri Berlinsky. Photo: Vladimir Badikov.

"Our evening of music and poetry is a token of gratitude to those who are helping Podari.Life" said Chulpan Khamatova. "The US public charity took on a critical and difficult task of raising funds and organizing educational courses for Russian oncologists, hematologists and psychologists. This training and expertise transfer that will allow our doctors to keep up with the latest developments and best practices of global medicine. I am happy that those who support Podari.Life understand this critical need and have chosen to help."

The evening was full of surprises and one of them waited for Chulpan Khamatova herself. Masha Dyatlova, a cancer survivor who received her life-saving bone marrow transplant and treatment at a Moscow oncology clinic, attended to evening. Masha has now blossomed into a beautiful young lady, we could hardly recognize her from a child who was given 15 days to live. 

(All photos: Vladimir Badikov)

The show was also attended by actors Yevgeny Mironov and Yulia Peresild, the General Consul of the Republic of Kazakhstan in New York, Raushan Esbulatova, and other distinguished guests. All event costs were covered by volunteers and sponsors. All ticket proceeds and funds raised during the evening will go directly into the educational programs of Podari.Life, including the training for clinical psychologists at the Federal Oncohematology Pediatric Center and a purchase of medical demonstration dolls that allow doctors to explain the treatment process to young children.

We thank all of our supporters! We are very grateful to The Cherry Orchard Festival who presented the event as part of the New York tour of the Theatre of the Nations, Bonhams Auction House, Steinway & Sons, Burger & Lobster, Tastemakers, Jewel of Russia, our lottery sponsors, and a team of volunteers - Anastasia Efimova, Katya Gorbatiouk, Janara Khassenova, Maria Leibholz, Elena Pitaleff, Inna Post, Elena Sardarova, Eleonora Stefantsova, Rada Sumareva and Helen Vaysman - who joined their efforts, talents and love to make this dream evening come true. 

Personal Message

Dear Friends!
Our June 7th NYC event preparation is in its full swing! Our stars of the evening Chulpan Khamatova and Dmitri Berlinsky have met in Moscow and have immersed in the creative process of shaping the performance programme.

Thanks to the generosity of our donors and volunteers covering the costs of this event, the proceeds and donations will go towards the causes of Podari Life.

   

Special event for our supporters

Please join us for an evening of Music and Poetry presented by Cherry Orchard Festival.

June 7th 2016, New York, NY.

Featuring Performances by World-Renowned Artists
Chulpan Khamatova, poetry reading & Dmitri Berlinsky, violin

With appearance by stars of Theatre of Nations (Moscow, Russia)
Evgeny Mironov · Julia Peresild · Yulia Svezhakova · Alexander Grishin · Pavel Akimkin · Alexander Novin · Dmitriy Zhuravlev

Concert and VIP-reception

Thanks to donors of Podari Life, Russia will get Child Life professional

In March, Russian clinical psychologist from Federal Oncohematology Pediatric Center (Dima Rogachev Center, Moscow) Ekaterina Stefanenko begun her courses in pursuit for Child Life Certificate. She will become the first certified psychologist in Russia with the help of gracious donors and supporters of Podari.Life Inc. Ms Stefanenko’s education was initiated by our sister charity from Russia - Podari Zhizn Foundation.

Child Life qualification is a special psychology degree certified by Child Life Council. Training provides professionals with extra knowledge and skills to work with children in hospital care.

"This qualification is a critical part of the childhood cancer cure, - says Ekaterina. Cancer patients need to spend months in a ward where every aspect of known life is different and sometime scary. Clinical psychologist assists kids and helps them to cope with challenges of hospital care, illness and severe change in their daily life".

She underlines that Child Life model is play-based, explanatory practice that prepares children for complex manipulations through joy and storytelling.

Child Life model has emerged in the West after The Great War, then many wounded and sick children ascended to hospitals for surgery or general care. It soon became evident, that neither doctors nor nurses could cope with child frustrations, fears and lack of normal, playful and educational activity every kid expects at an age. Emma Plank, a colleague and friend of Maria Montessori, the founder of humanitarian pedagogy, laid foundations for Child Life methods. Her work and the endeavors of her students and followers expanded the idea: to help children and their parents to cope with a harshness and burden of hospital procedures and isolation.

"Modern day Child Life practice includes different components, says Ekaterina Stefanenko. "First, there's a set of tools and techniques that psychologist uses to help to overcome the loneliness and at least partial separation with family. Second, psychologist needs to explain to a child what is going on. It's both the nature of his illness and the manipulations that doctors apply to they. Finally, psychologist is there to manage child's reaction to countless limitations and restrictions that cancer treatment establishes".

Child Life method arms the professional with a valuable arsenal of proven successful tools, Stefanenko adds.

Ekaterina Stefanenko is a graduate of Moscow State University, with merits, in Clinical Psychology. She works at Dima Rogachev Center for 4 years. After a graduation from the program she will return to Moscow and becomes the first certified Child Life psychologist in Russia.

We will keep you updated on Ekaterina's progress.

Shop at Amazon, support Podari.Life Inc

When you are shopping at Amazon.com, you can support our goals. If you register our charity as your preference at  Smile.Amazon Amazon will donate  0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to us! AmazonSmile is the same Amazon you know.

Same products, same prices, same service — double pleasure from shopping!

Great news!

Time has come to sum up the results of 2015 and we are happy to say that the first Medikin doll we've been fundraising for has arrived in Dmitriy Rogachev Pediatric Hematology Center! 

This manikin is awesome and is used by doctors to explain illness and treatment to small patients in hospitals. Where there is knowledge - there is no place for fear! 

We are more than grateful to our supporters for their help and trust. Anything is possible whith such devoted friends!

Mad Tea Party

On  November 26 friends of our sister charity "Podari Zhizn" had a Mad Tea Party with their friends, colleagues or neighbours to celebrate our sister charity birthday.
The Mad Tea Party is an international social event hold on November 26. All funds raised through #MadTeaParty go to support children and young adults from Russia who are suffering from cancer.
The first Mad Tea Party took place in 2014 to mark a birthday of "Podari Zhizn" public charity. 

We and our friends have also participated in this event and we managed to fundraise more than one thousand for our common goals.