Christmas is coming early for 68 young clients of the Centre for Child Development (CCD) and their families.
On Dec. 12, they’ll be treated to a family Christmas dinner – including turkey with all the trimmings, a visit with and gifts from Santa Claus and holiday music – at McJack’s Roadhouse Grille.
Co-hosted by the South Surrey restaurant and The Rotary Club of White Rock/Peace Arch, the annual event will bring holiday cheer to the families involved.
“It’s what Christmas is all about,” says Judy Krawchuk, vice president of Group Events and Campaigns at the Child Development Foundation of B.C. “Without them, these people might not have a Christmas.”
While two groups are helping to prepare dinner for the kids, the foundation, which is responsible for fundraising for the CCD, is also looking for some Christmas cheer of its own through the help of continuing financial support.
The centre receives 80 per cent of its funding from the Ministry of Children and Family Development.
The rest comes from public support.
The CCD, located in North Surrey, has been helping children with complex and severe developmental disabilities since 1953.
It has more than 2,000 clients from Surrey, Langley, White Rock and Delta, and is the only Commission on the Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF)-accredited pediatric outpatient medical rehabilitation facility in Canada.
Many of the children at the centre have enduring disabilities and health issues.
While hospitals focus on addressing the immediate medical needs of a child, they are not equipped or funded to provide the long-term and complex care that the centre provides.
“There’s a huge need that’s not being met,” says Krawchuk, who estimates that there are as many as 10,000 children in the area that could benefit from the CCD.
For more information or to donate to The Centre for Child Development, visit www.cdfbc.ca/donate.htm or call 604-591-5903.
bjoseph@surreyleader.com