In December, the Gift of Life Cancer Treatment Foundation raised 314,000 euros – an absolute monthly record for the foundation that proves the great kindness of the Estonian people. 

The foundation council approved the funding of the treatment of 20 people, 12 of whom are receiving the foundation's support for the first time. We also supported many other people whose decision to treat was made in October-November. All in all the foundation covered nearly 161,000 euros' worth of medical bills.

 

A gift of life, a gift of hope

Sometimes people think that the Cancer Treatment Foundation can, at best, only slightly extend cancer patients' lives. But that's far from true – at best people are cured with the foundation's support instead.

Anika Mõrd, a mother and grandmother from Põlva, told the story of her difficult fight and great victory to Delfi TV.

Watch the video here

 

In December before the holidays we funded the treatment of a dozen cancer patients with more than 100,000 euros. Some received the support for the first time, others have been undergoing successful treatments for quite a while now.

Read about the beneficiaries here

 

The story of one of these people, Grandpa Anatoli, was recounted by news portal Delfi and can be read and watched here.

Many kind benefactors: companies and young people 

The Estonian people were extraordinarily charitable in December. The Cancer Treatment Foundation was flooded with donations and charity initiatives. Here are some examples: 

·     Tartu Mart Reinik School organised fundraising for cancer patients before Christmas. They sold 1135 of the foundation's reflectors, held a charity café and Christmas fair. All in all the kind school community donated 3200 euros to the foundation. 

·     Sipsik Nursery School in Kohila held a charity event in the run-up to Christmas, consisting of a café and handicraft fair. They raised 1456 euros to the foundation. 

·     In the run-up to Christmas we accepted a donation of 5000 euros from If Kindlustus insurance company. The company asked its employees whom they would like to help at Christmas time and the Cancer Treatment Foundation came up on top. 

   

·     Exterior wood products company Thermory supported cancer patients with 10,000 euros. The company manufactures thermally modified decking, cladding, floorboards and sauna materials in Harju County.

·     Viasat supported cancer patients with 6000 euros. 

·     Toivo Tänavsuu held a one-hour lecture at Tallinn Municipal Police Department on the subject of the Cancer Treatment Foundation and its employees donated 424 euros to the foundation.

 

·     Tradehouse beauty products store's charity night sale raised 1750 euros for cancer patients. 

·     The 1300 students of Lasnamäe Gymnasium raised more than 2000 euros for cancer patients during their charity Christmas fair.

 

·     A charity Christmas concert was held in Viimsi Hobby Centre, where singers Ariadne and Martti Hallik, singers from Ita-Riina Music Studio, dancers from Kaie Kõrb Ballet Studio, JJ-Street, Irish dance group and children from Piret Kõõra dance club and Tallinn Dance School participated. All in all 1200 euros was raised for the Cancer Treatment Foundation.

 

·     Employees of car safety equipment manufacturer Norma voluntarily gave up their Christmas gifts and asked the company to donate the gift money to cancer patients instead. It is the second time they have done so. And so the company made a donation of 12,405 euros to cancer patients on behalf of their 827 employees.

 

·     Gerli Liivet, the vice president of the Estonian Nurses Association, handed Toivo Tänavsuu, the head of the Gift of Life, a donation of more than 1500 euros from Estonian nurses.

 

·     2nd to 4th grade students of Saue Gymnasium spent a whole week baking all kinds of delicacies at their homes and selling them at recess. Their charity event raised more than 2300 euros for cancer patients.

 

·     For several years in a row Ekspress Media has given up Christmas presents and instead has made a donation to cancer patients, making them a gift of precious and valuable time. A member of the Ekspress Media board, Urmo Soonvald, handed us a cheque for 5000 euros.

 

·     The visitors of the Saku Suurhall Arena's grand "Christmas Gala" donated nearly 2100 euros to the foundation. Each benefactor received a Disney movie music CD by way of thanks.

 

Inglite aeg charity programme helped two cancer patients

The Inglite aeg charity programme broadcast on 18 December on TV3 raised funds for five people in need, two of whom – a family man named Erik and a grandmother named Irene – are supported by the Gift of Life Cancer Treatment Foundation. 128,476 euros are given to the foundation for supporting cancer patients, ensuring continued crucial treatment for Erik and Irene. 

Read more about the programme here

See Grandma Irene's story here

See Erik's story here

 

Summaries of the year, plenty of interviews and articles

Toivo Tänavsuu gave an interview to journalist Mihkel Kärmas in Aasta säravaimad tähed programme on ETV.
May this interview be dedicated to all the gifts of life and people, who were either part of or moved by the Cancer Treatment Foundation's mission in 2017. Check out the interview here

TV3 channel made a substantial summary of our activities in 2017. Watch the clip here

Delfi news portal made a timeline of our activities in 2017. The result was an exciting month-by-month overview of the foundation's activities. Check out the timeline here.

Delfi also published an article about Katrin Kuusemäe, the CEO of Gift of Life. Read the article here.

Toivo Tänavsuu talked about the Cancer Treatment Foundation on the Huvitaja radio program. Listen to the program here.

The foundation's leaders Katrin Kuusemäe and Toivo Tänavsuu discussed charity and funding of treatments on the Vikerraadio Reporteritund radio program. The head of the Children's Hospital Foundation, Inna Kramer, and producer of Jõulutunnel charity programme, Ene-Maris Tali, were also in the studio. Listen to the program here.

Eesti Päevaleht: Why are cancer treatment medications so expensive? 

Eesti Päevaleht newspaper raised a serious issue in December: the price of medications. We wrote in our commentary that the foundation battles every day to ensure the maximum discount from pharmaceutical companies and to make the best use of the donations.

Read the articles here and here.

Read the Cancer Treatment Foundation's commentary on the price of medications here.

Two recognitions

The editorial staff and readers of Meditsiiniuudised newspaper elected Toivo Tänavsuu, the head of the Cancer Treatment Foundation, Medicine Influencer of the Year 2017. Jevgeni Ossinovski, the Minister of Health, came in fourth according to the survey. Read the story here.

 

Kodukant village movement and President Kersti Kaljulaid acknowledged the Cancer Treatment Foundation in Lihula for including volunteers. Find out more here.

Estonian waffle baking record was broken :)  
In the run-up to Christmas, volunteers of the Gift of Life Cancer Treatment Foundation made nearly 4000 waffles with the help of Vahvlihaldjad Café. The boxed waffles then made it to the gift bags of companies and institutions, which together donated nearly 20,000 euros to cancer patients. Read more here and here.

We extended the possibilities of donating 
You can now visit our website and have your donation added to your phone bill. It's really simple: just enter the amount of your donation and your mobile number.

Customers of Elisa and Tele2 can make donations of up to five euros with the click of a mouse. Larger donations and/or donations made via the Telia mobile network need to be confirmed with an SMS.

The service works in all networks. The amount of the donation is added to your phone bill the next month. The service fee is 5%.

The technical solution for microdonations was made by Zlick, an Estonian start-up, who made it work in cooperation with Sviiter creative agency.

 

You can now make a donation by bankcard in Circle K stations in addition to cash donations. Just ask the cashier to add the donation to your receipt. Find out more here.

 

You can still purchase the foundation's reflectors

We would like to remind you that until the end of January you can buy the Cancer Treatment Foundation's charity reflectors from Selver, Prisma, Rimi Hypermarket and Stockmann stores and Circle K stations. They serve as double life-savers – they make you visible in the dark, thus saving your life, and buying them gives extra days to cancer patients. A reflector costs €1.99.

Want to support cancer patients with the gift of life?

On our website you can use bank links to become a regular benefactor within seconds. You can also donate online using your mobile phone – the donated sum is added to your phone bill.

Click here for bank details.

You can sign up for our newsletter via info@kingitudelu.ee

We wish all the foundation's benefactors and fans a charitable and happy New Year!

Katrin Kuusemäe

The CEO of the Gift of Life Cancer Treatment Foundation

Toivo Tänavsuu

The head and founder of the Gift of Life Cancer Treatment Foundation