In the process of producing videos, I have often been in the company of accomplished and extraordinary people.  Most of them adults.  Most of them professionals.  In the latest Pawpro Media video release we are highlighting the children of Hopecam who are, or have been, homebound and isolated by treatment for life threatening illnesses.  It’s hard to not be impressed by their composure and strength.

For ten years Hopecam.org  has supplied computers, cameras, hardware and any technical support necessary to connect these children with their school friends.  Founder, Len Forkas, took on the mission to address this often overlooked, yet critical, aspect of long-term medical treatment for children after watching his son suffer with leukemia, and the painful emotional separation from his classmates at the age of nine.  Often these children are separated from their friends for a year or more while being treated, which can have a significant effect on their psychological and physical well-being.  The risk of a complicating infection is just too great.

Ride Across American fundraising Link:

http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/lenforkas/rideacrossamericaraam

To hear former Hopecam user, Daniel, now 13 years old, recall his initial thoughts of being diagnosed with cancer, wondering how long he has to live, wondering whether he will ever see his friends again isn’t a topic of which we expect a child to be conversent.  And his mother, Donna, recalling how she worried about how to “. . . keep him whole” in the process.  But these children and families are forever changed by this event.

With Len’s participation this coming June in the famed cross-country cycling event, Race Across America, Hopecam hopes to reach more children and make more people aware of childhood cancer, Hopecam and the need for this connection in the lives of the children and families isolated by intensive medical treatment.  Please help Hopecam raise $150,000 in 2012 to carry out this mission.  Visit Hopecam.org to donate today.