Everyone, Meet Grace & Ella!

Grace has been diagnosed with ALL ( Acute Lymphotic Leukemia) - How do you begin to explain to a 4 year old all that comes with that diagnosis? Ella can help! Ella is a friend of Barbie who has lost her hair due to chemotherapy. She comes with two wigs, some scarves, head wraps, and a few other accessories. Ella can be a perfect tool for having that difficult conversation about the side effects of Chemo & can be a comforting companion for those little ones having to go through it. The only problem is, Mattel seems to have made Ella as a trial run exclusively for children's hospitals. This is great, but considering the amount of children that come in an out of an oncology ward on a daily basis, there are not enough Ella's to go around. Grace's parents started this Change.org petition so that Ella can be more redly available to all children battling cancer, especially those as young as their little girl. Click here to sign the petition to let Matel know it's time to make more "Ella"s so that more little ones like Grace can benefit from being able to relate to a Barbie that looks like them!

I found this YouTube video taken at The Jurasz Hospital in Bydgoszcz, Poland. It shows a few of the girls being treated for cancer playing with some of the Ella dolls their hospital received. This hospital only received 12 of them - hopefully signing this petition will allow the hospital's to receive a steady flow of Ella dolls, allowing patients to take their new friend home with them.

(SOURCE: Ruptly TV's YouTube Channel )

Holy Make-A-Wish, Batkid!

One of the biggest non-profit foundations benefiting children dealing with life-threatning diseases is the Make A Wish Foundation. This organization stands for everything that is strength, hope, joy and perseverance in the face of adversity. They allow children between the ages of 2 and 18 to "make a wish", whatever wish they want, and take it upon themselves to make sure it comes true.

It all started in 1980 with a 7 year old warrior named Christopher James Greicius who was bravely battling Leukemia. His childhood dream was to become a police officer and in an effort to lift his spirits, the Arizona Department of Public Safety made sure to make Christopher an honorary police officer for the day. He was officially sworn in as the first honorary ADPS patrolman in Arizona state history, received an official, custom tailored police uniform, and even got to take a ride in a police helicopter. Soon after his wish was granted, Christopher passed away. This event inspired and was the catalyst for what Make A Wish Foundation has become today. 

For 23 years Make A Wish has granted countless wishes for millions of children fighting the fight of their lives. Today, I'm going to talk about Miles' (a.k.a. Batkid) Make A Wish experience which transported him and his hometown straight into a Batman comic book. 

Miles is a 5-year-old Batman fanatic who is currently in remission from Leukemia. His dream and official wish was to become Batman and to fight crime for a day! So today, November 15th, San Francisco, California was transformed into Gotham City for the day, complete with it's own official "Gotham City Chronicle" newspaper, evil villains, and damsel in distress. And, of course, what is Gotham City without its very own Batman? Or in this case, Batkid!

SOURCE: ABC News

Here is what his day consisted of, as told by Bay Area Make A Wish :

"After rescuing a damsel in distress from the cable car tracks in Nob Hill, and capturing the Riddler in the act of robbing a downtown vault, Batman will eat his lunch at the Burger Bar in San Francisco – directly above Union Square. While at Burger Bar, he will get a call on his batphone to go to the window – where he will look down and see a huge group of volunteers jumping up and down asking for Batman’s help. Why? Because the Penguin will be kidnapping a famous Gotham City mascot! The getaway car will be visible on Union Square (a convertible so that everyone can see what is happening), and the chase will be on! After catching the Penguin, Batman will make his final stop at City Hall, where the Mayor and the Police Chief of Gotham City will thank him and give him the key to the city. We plan on having hundreds of volunteers and donors collected to cheer and thank our Batman!"

Wish you could've been there to witness Miles' amazing dream come true? Me too! But thankfully, we live in a world where cell phones, social media, and the internet work as a portal that can transport us thousands of miles in an instant click. Find a play-by-play, complete with videos, photos, and captions, of Batkid's heroic day by clicking here!

Here are some other links you might want to check out!

The Make A Wish Foundation

Article: "SF to be Transformed into Gotham City for Make A Wish"

PS: Miles made such an impression that he and his wish have single handedly shut down the Make A Wish site & here's what they had to say about it ! Holy Make A Wish, Batkid!

(click the image to get a better view)