Candlelighters' Bursaries
School attendance plays a tremendously important role in a child’s life – healthy or not. Although school is usually associated with the learning of basic subjects, in reality it offers a great deal more.
From a practical perspective, school presents the child/youth with perhaps the most important opportunity to learn social interaction skills and symbolically it represents the future.
The needs of a child with cancer are no different than other children. However, school can play a number of additional roles, including:
- Maintaining normalcy in their lives despite the ongoing and difficult struggle with cancer and its effects
- Giving a degree of control over life and the changes brought on by cancer, its treatment and its long-term effects
- Providing a venue for emotional and social development
- Providing the intellectual interaction necessary for fullest recovery from cancer
Many families face a huge financial burden when dealing with childhood cancers as often one parent stops working to spend time with and care for their child.
Having a part-time job to save money for post secondary education is often not an option for a teen dealing with cancer either. The future can indeed look dim, especially when youth are potentially well enough to pursue a higher education but do not have adequate access to the necessary funds, primarily for reasons beyond their control.
Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Support Program Inc. is dedicated to making education accessible. Part of that commitment includes the Ottawa Senators Alumni Bursary and the Kathleen Elizabeth Ward Bursary, that will ease the financial requirements of post-secondary education.
Ottawa Senators Alumni Bursary
Candlelighters is very pleased to offer a bursary in the amount of $1,000.00 to a Candlelighters' member (meeting the eligibility criteria) in their academic pursuits of post-secondary education. Application deadlines are March 31st of each year; the applications are avaiable online through the link below or through the Candlelighters office.
Click here to download the Ottawa Senators Alumni Bursary Application Form
Kathleen Elizabeth Ward
In early 2007, Candlelighters was contacted by Mr. Neville Ward. His mother, Kathleen Elizabeth Ward had recently passed away, and he was interested in honoring her in a manner that would be reflective of the compassionate woman she had been while living out her life here in the national capital region. Throughout her full and vibrant life, Kathleen Elizabeth Ward contributed to educational initiatives and to a variety of children’s causes. Mr. Ward expressed an interest in honoring his mother by supporting children in the Ottawa region, and integrating some educational aspect into the initiative. The result is the Kathleen Elizabeth Ward Bursary for siblings of children with cancer.
Mr. Ward has provided $5,000 to fund the program for 5 years, 2007 – 2011
Children are universal and childhood cancer is universal. Cancer in children strikes when least expected. It does not discriminate, affecting boys and girls, toddlers through teenagers. But it is a diagnosis that impacts entire families, and siblings are often forgotten as much is done to support and assist the child that is literally fighting for their life.
It is the hope of Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Support Program Inc. that the Kathleen Elizabeth Ward Bursary provide support to young people who are indirectly affected in the journey of childhood cancer by awarding one $1,000 bursary each year for five years. The generosity of Mr. Ward has secured the ongoing delivery of this project for a five-year period.
Click here to download the Kathleen Elizabeth Ward Bursary Application Form
