This event is a Rhema Good Neighbour Committee project. Students from each class will decide how they will raise money and will work together to achieve the school goal. If the students reach the goal set for the school Principal Ray Hendriks has agreed to shave his head at a school assembly on March 3rd. Rhema invites other schools in the Peterborough area to join in.

The Good Neighbour Committee at Rhema Christian School is a committee that works with the students to help them learn how to reach out and lend a helping hand. The end results benefit both the community and the students who learn to be caring, compassionate individuals. This translates to a great school where there is an environment of mutual respect and admiration.

Pam and Syd Birrell lost their son James at the tender age of 8 to neuroblastoma in December of 2001 after a four year battle with the disease. The Birrell family started the James Fund in March of 2001 while James was still alive hoping to raise enough money to find a cure that would save his life. The James Fund was established at SickKids Foundation to generate knowledge leading to new therapies for the treatment of patients with neuroblastoma. The Community of Peterborough assisted the Birrells in raising approximately $140,000 before James' death in December of 2001.

The Birrell family continues to raise money for The Fund and, with the help of a widening community of supporters, to date has raised approximately $750,000 to fund innovative, fast-track research projects through The Hospital for Sick Children and in Japan, the USA, and across Canada. The James Fund has rapidly grown to be Canada’s leading neuroblastoma research initiative and actor Tom Hanks is its Honorary Patron. To date, ten research projects have been funded, six papers published, a drug-testing unit has been established and several international collaborations are underway bringing new hope to the parents of children suffering from this terrible childhood cancer. The success of The James Fund is largely due to the dedication of the Peterborough community, which contiributed to its growth and supported the Birrell family in its quest to save children from neuroblastoma.

When the Good Neighbour Committee at Rhema approached the family to help raise funds, James' Aunt Diana Birrell, who also is the Development Coordinator of The James Fund, said “What if all the students at all the schools in the Peterborough area could raise enough money to fund one research grant? Then the grant could be a gift to SickKids, from the children of the City of Peterborough.” Rhema Christian School echoed with “Let it begin with us!” We believe that when other schools see what the children at Rhema are doing they will want to help raise money too. We know what amazing things children can do.

James once said,“When I have to make the choice, it will always be to keep battling cancer, I am not giving up!” Of the Fund that bears his name, he said, “With all this experimenting, they’ll get it figured out and then all the kids with neuroblastoma will be able to survive.” Those words have galvanized the team of James Fund scientists as they work towards a day when no child will suffer the horrors of this disease, which claims a child somewhere in North America every sixteen hours.

The deadline for reaching the $40,000 target is May 12, 2006. There are some great fundraising ideas on SickKids' web site.

For additional information and/or to arrange for an interview, please contact:

Principal Ray Hendriks
Rhema Christian School
29 County Road #4
Peterborough
Ph: (705) 743-1400
Email:office@rhema.ca

For media information about the Birrell family please contact:

Susan McLennan
Babble On Communications
Ph: (416) 699-1846
Cell: (416) 525-5177
Email: s.mclennan@sympatico.ca