Summer has arrived! The arrival of summer brings the end of the school year, Canada celebrations and summer vacations, not to mention golf and garage sales!

On May 12th, Billy, Kay, Steve and their friends hosted a fundraising event in honour of Kaila. With gift baskets galore, dancing to the Hammerheads and wonderful words about Candlelighters from Gillian, the event was a success, raising over $10,000 in support of Candlelighters. Thank you very much to everyone in organizing and hosting such a great evening. I will definitely look forward to joining you next year!

On Thursday May 19th, it was my absolute pleasure to golf in the 10th Anniversary Industry Canada IOC Candlelighters CyberKids Golf Tourney. Congratulations to Pierre Gravel and his team of supporters and volunteers, who for ten consecutive years have hosted an outstanding tournament at the Canadian, with a year over year net increase in proceeds. Thank you so much! $11,000 was raised this year! Special thanks to Chris and Erin Phillips who joined everyone on the course for what was a fantastic day on the links.J

I want to thank the parents who participated in the Watercolour Workshop on January 27 and March 7th. I appreciate your feedback, and I am really happy those in attendance had a great time. We will do it again in the fall! Jennifer Nicol, our wonderful WaterColour Workshop facilitator also had a special workshop for patients. Those who attended on March 5th painted some pretty spectacular pieces!

Special thank you to our Bursary EvaluationTeam - Joan, Shelley, Nonie and Rebecca. Without these volunteers, we would not be able to announce the 2011 Ottawa Senators Alumni Bursary recipient. Congratulations to Manasvi !

Did you see the CN Cycle Dream Team on Sunday May 1 at CN Cycle for CHEO? Thanks to Kate, Ben and Ryan, Candlelighters members who made up this year's Dream Team at the CN Cycle for CHEO, held May 1st. Thanks also to our friends at the CHEO Foundation !

Getting back to golf talk - ha, you'd think I was a golfer ! Actually, on Tuesday June 7th I had the distinct pleasure of playing Miss Daisy, and having the delightful Glenn driving me around the course at Chipping In For Charity! TeraMach Technologies presented the 8th annual tournament in support of Candlelighters and what a simply spectacular day we had. Please visit Chipping and have a look at the sponsors and pictures. The weather couldn't have been better - sunshine all day long, but not too hot! Tamsin and our outstanding volunteer team did a great job, ensuring the day ran smoothly. Thank you. Special thanks to Master of Ceremonies Michael O'Byrne, Sal Iacono for his words of welcome, Miss Teen Eastern Ontario ~ Hilary MacMillan ( our Beat the Pro "Pro") & Patti Dillabough. Making the evening extra special were the words of Kim Carswell. Thank you Kim, very much. I am so pleased to announce $46,000 in net proceeds were raised at this year's Chipping event. Wow! And WOW again. Thank you to everyone who participated and made the day such a success!!

Lina, Gerry, Angelina and Katryna Comba, together with friends and family hosted their annual garage sale in support of Candlelighters. An amazing $2557 was raised! I am truly grateful for your continued support. Thank you Comba Family!

I love closing out my summer festivities on the golf course, and have come to truly look forward to the annual Tori Carswell Memorial Tournament. This year, the event will be held on Saturday August 27th. If you'd like to be part of the day, please visit Tori Proceeds from the day support Candlelighters' Tori's Helping Hand initiative. Our thanks to the Carswell Family (Paul, Kim and Bryce) who together with their friends and family host this annual event that is too much fun. I have the great pleasure of golfing with Bar, P & G. Okay, my pleasure, their pain, but I plan on practicing up this year! See you there!

In closing, I just want to thank you all for your kind words and encouragement these past few months as I underwent my hip surgery. All your good wishes were so appreciated, you have no idea. I am thrilled to back in action here at the office and happy to say things went very well and my recovery has been smooth. Thank you xoxo

Until next time, I wish each of you and your families the very best.

We need your help to make this September the best yet!
Help us raise awareness about childhood cancer, the unique challenges it brings to families and survivorship issues. Look and see what we have coming up and please contact us and let us know where you can join our activities. Thank you

Together, we can and will make a difference.

Wear your gold ribbon pin all month long and show your support of Candlelighters and childhood cancer issues. Contact the office if you would like to run an awareness/fundraising campaign with the pins at your workplace or school.

Light a Candle for Hope ~ Scotiabank ~ September 12th - 30th 2011. Donation boxes and bookmarks will once again be in Ottawa area branches of Scotiabank. Drop in and show your support of this amazing campaign.

Where there's light, there's hope ~ Gala Dinner Wednesday September 14th 2011 Join us for this spectacular evening at the Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club. Tickets are available by email information@candlelighters.net or by contacting Tamsin Roach at 613.715.9157 Tables of 8 are $1,000. Thank you to Dale Gagnon for once again leading this organizing committee and the lovely Joseé for her hard work too!

Candlelighters "Inside Ride" Thursday September 15th, 2011 Proudly presented by Coast to Coast Against Cancer Foundation, Candlelighters is very excited to join the National 'Inside Ride' Tour. Being held at Ottawa City Hall ( Lisgar Field) this fabulous event will be the most fun you'll have this year. We need you! Visit inside ride and check it out. Hope to see you there!!

Cocktails with Claire Date to be confirmed. This delightful girls' night cocktail party is in the planning stages. Watch the website candlelighters for date confirmation and details.

More news that is the news~You bet. We are changing our look. I am thrilled to give you the first sneak peak at our new logo.

We are so pleased with it. Our website will be re-launched soon, yes, still at candlelighters I'd really like to thank Chris Woods for all his work on helping us along with our re-brand. Sarah, thank you also.

Bereaved Parents We will look to re-start the program in the Fall of 2011. Please contact the office if you are interested in participating.

Smiling Siblings Will also re-start in the fall. Dates to be announced in late August

The best part of writing this newsletter is recognizing some of our many supporters, who so generously give of their time, skills, expertise or monies to Candlelighters. Our sincere thank you's to: Renfrew Firefighters hosted a fishing derby; The Bercier Family who hosted Shave for the Brave fundraiser on March 11th in support of Alain and Justin's friend, Joshua, who was recently diagnosed with cancer. This event, held at East Gate Alliance Church raised over $6500! Special thanks to the boys who shaved their heads ~ Alain, Justin, Perry, Braden, Murdock, Josh, Tyler and Alex! Also special thanks to Sarah for spearheading this event. Thank you's go out to Brittany Ernst and her friends who sold their homemade greeting cards at the event. The Community Bible Church in Stittsville held a Comedy, Dessert and Live Auction fundraiser on April 1st which raised over $6300! (special thanks to Elaine, Alison and Flo)

Thank you to the Metropolitan Church; Taryn Baggott and St. Marten de Porres School; Luke Clare and Gowlings Lafleur Henderson LLP for collecting money for Candlelighters on their jeans day; Ryan Murphy and his school Ecole St-Thomas D'Aquin in Astorville who held a Valentine's day fundraiser; Phil Selig for donating 67 tickets to our families; Emma MacLean, Audrey Tan and Bell High School who sold Emma's Angels and donated the monies to Candlelighters,

Our thanks goes out to Keith David who organized the Navan Curling Club 2010/11 Championship Night and Candlelighters Silent Auction and raised over $5000!

Thank you to the Berthelot family who hosted a family celebration in honour of their daughter,Isabelle. This celebration raised over $2,000! Thanks to Cobden Public School who held a Easter Basket raffle; to Amberley and Mallory at Canterbury School (love our picture!) The Todd family held a second basketball tournament in honour of Kate, $940 was raised! Ann Marie Richmond held a balloon release ceremony in memory of her daughter, Jenny.

Than you to the NAC Foundation for their tickets they have graciously given to members of Candlelighters over the last few months;Thank you to Jenna Barr who organized a spaghetti dinner as part of her leadership class. The dinner raised $740! Special thanks to Donna, Teagan, Kirsten and Amy as well for their help at the dinner.