Gift a Bear, Share a Smile

This Eid, help the Alisha Jilani Foundation deliver 425 Build-A-Bears to children facing cancer and other complex medical issues in hospitals across Canada. Your donation of $20 provides a patient with a warm "hug," while $40 ensures their siblings (often the forgotten heroes of the journey) are also remembered. 

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"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)

Our Story 

Our daughter, Alisha, was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2019. Through her journey, we learned firsthand that while hospitals provide the medicine, it's the communities that provide comfort. The Alisha Jilani Foundation was born from a desire to provide that small, vital spark of joy for children and families navigating the exhaustion of extended treatment.

On average, there are 125,000 pediatric hospitalizations in Canada every year—a number that continues to grow. Nearly a quarter of these stays involve children facing complex medical journeys, such as cancer.

How You Can Help

The Build-A-Bear Program 

In partnership with Build-A-Bear, we deliver stuffed bears to patients and their siblings. We support hospitals with pediatric oncology clinics, NICU, and infant loss and bereavement programs. We also bring joy to kids that have to be hospitalized in another city and are staying at Ronald McDonald House Canada (RMHC) locations across the country.

This year, our goal is to deliver 425 bears across these partner hospitals and sites:

-BC Children's Hospital (Vancouver)
-RMHC-Calgary
-Windsor Pediatric Unit
-London Children's Hospital
-RMHC-SWO (London)
-St. Joseph's Healthcare (Hamilton)
-St. Joe's Pediatric Oncology (Toronto)
-Scarborough Centenary - Pediatric Oncology 
-CHEO (Ottawa)
-Montreal Children's Hospital
-IWK Health (Halifax)
-RMHC-St. John's

Your donation ensures that a bear reaches a child by Eid (May 26th). Your gift ensures no child in the family feels forgotten.
Your support means the world to these families and may the Almighty bless you for your kindness and generosity.

— The Alisha Jilani Foundation Team

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Transparency & Impact

The Alisha Jilani Foundation is a non-profit organization. We operate on a 100% impact model for this campaign, meaning every dollar donated toward a bear goes directly to procurement and delivery costs; no donation funds are used for our administrative or overhead expenses. Any funds raised in excess of this campaign will go directly towards toy procurement for next Eid insh'Allah.