Alisha Jilani Foundation

"I can't even imagine"

Words so often that I'm told

Yet we live it everyday

Filled with courage oh so bold

But even mountains break asunder 

When the ground underneath them shakes

What are we but human

When the world around us breaks..."

- Mustafa Jilani (Alisha's father)

May 4, 2024 is our daughter’s birthday, she would have turned 6. 

She passed away shortly after her 2nd birthday, from brain cancer. 

Since then, in her memory, we raise funds to help those families that are still going through the struggle of caring for a sick child. 

In our first year (2020) we raised enough funds to sponsor a room at the Ronald McDonald House - our home away from home for 295 days while our daughter was being treated at SickKids.

The following year we raised money for ChildCan and SMILE– both organizations that directly support families of children with illnesses through sponsorship of expenses and therapies. 

Last year we continued to support SMILE and held a Toy Drive for sick children at the Children's Hospital in London. The impact on the children was so amazing that we decided to do it again this year but with Books and Stuffies!

So, this year on Eid Day (April 10th, 2024) we are delivering Books and Stuffies to sick children at the London Children's Hospital and Ronald McDonald House. These gifts are being procured, wrapped and delivered to these children with the help of supporters like you!

Stay tuned with our happenings via our Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/alisha.jilani.foundation/

Thank you kindly

How You Can Help

If you wish to have local impact with the most vulnerable children, then please consider supporting our programs:

1)    (2022/23 Campaign)- Our campaign was focused on supporting the Hospital Support Program we run through SMILE to provide families with services in hospitals like meals, parking, counselling, and toys/books. We currently service SickKids and Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital and plan to expand to London Children's Hospital this year: https://www.smilecan.org/hospitalsupport

2)   (General Campaigns)- Please consider donating directly to our fledgling ‘Alisha Jilani Foundation’ by donating to our GoFundMe page. This money is used for matching programs, to support Childhood cancer and Bereavement programs (Gilda's Club; Camp Ooch; Art Therapy) and to sponsor a room for a family to stay at the Ronald McDonald House.

Please note, if you would like a tax receipt, please message alishajilanifoundation (at) gmail .com and we will get you a special link so your tax receipt can be emailed to you. You can also e-transfer your donation directly to the above email address.

As the weather improves and you enjoy the outdoors, I hope you will keep in mind little hearts, stuck in little rooms at Children’s Hospitals… Thank you for donating. 

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This is an evolving campaign and the goal is to support each of the organizations that helped support us during our time of need. We continue to use the original GoFundMe page as a means to keep all of our beloved donors updated. 

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Learn more about The Alisha Jilani Foundation below:

Alisha's Story

In May 2019, shortly after her first birthday, Alisha was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive brain cancer called ATRT. For her treatment, we moved from our home in London ON to Toronto for six months and stayed at the Ronald McDonald House, which was an invaluable resource for us. During her treatment at SickKids hospital, Alisha underwent numerous brain surgeries and some of the harshest chemo regiments that can be administered on children, including high-dose chemo and bone marrow transplant. In December 2019, her treatment at SickKids came to an end and we came back home.

Two weeks later, her tumour came back.

This time, Alisha's treatment resumed at London's Children's Hospital. Alisha was happiest at home and all efforts were directed to ensure that we, as her parents, were equipped to manage her care whenever she wasn't going through active chemo treatment in hospital. Despite this, she needed blood transfusions once a week, every week, for six months. As COVID19 gripped the world, hospitals became an incredibly isolating experience.

Our little soldier fought on through thick and thin but the course of treatment eventually took a toll on her little body and she passed away shortly after her second birthday. 

Her fighting spirit however lives on in the impact she's had on the countless people who heard about her journey.

This Foundation will be her Legacy.

Alisha Noor Jilani (May 4, 2018 - June 2, 2020)

Our Mission and Vision

1. Financial Support - our goal is to support several existing organizations that took care of all the little details that would have caused us incredible financial and emotional stress: Ronald McDonald House (RMH); ChildCan; Camp Ooch & SMILE.

RMH took care of our housing and became our home away from home. ChildCan assumed care for everything else — from parking and meals to mortgage support and funeral costs. Lastly, Camp Ooch & SMILE added joy in stressful times and created a supportive environment for Alisha and her big sister, Inaya, where they could be kids again notwithstanding the unforgiving environment of a hospital. 

2. Blood - for those that cannot give financially, please consider donating blood. Chemotherapy leaves the body unable to produce hemoglobin and platelets on its own. As a result, Alisha needed blood transfusions every week. Please click on this link to let us know if you are interested in donating blood through the Canadian Blood Services in Alisha's memory.

3. Time - in the post-COVID world, hospitals have become incredibly isolating. Only one parent was allowed in hospital with Alisha at a time and each parent could only switch out every 24 hours. With no visitors allowed, hospitals became an incredibly lonely place for both patients like Alisha and parents like ourselves. Through the Alisha Jilani Foundation, we will be working to improve the mental health of patients and parents through initiatives that decrease feelings of isolation and empowering parents to be at home with their child whenever medically possible.