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How can fellow students and the community help?

A natural response of the school community when they hear of a student who has cancer is to do something to help.

Educators can facilitate the community's outpouring of concern and offers of help. Initially, educators need to obtain permission from the parents to allow them to disseminate to the staff, students, and broader school community accurate and appropriate information, thereby reducing rumours about the illness.

With this foundation in place, and respecting the family's wishes, teachers are in a position to help others to do things for their fellow student as an individual, small group, class, or school community.

Fellow students can:

• send letters, make phone calls, and keep inviting the student to parties and other events. Even if they are unable to attend, they will know they are remembered and are still part of the group;
• use a speaker phone to call their classmate;
• send digital messages or pictures of themselves and the school;
• record audio stories for their classmate;
• send jokes and funny stories often by snail mail, email, text message, phone, etc.;
• make banners and decorations for their classmate's door to greet them home from a lengthy stay at the hospital;
• give gifts that help the sick child pass the time – homemade gifts add a personal touch;
• lend games, books, videos, CDs, and other things that you can share with them;
• have a short visit with the child, if the child feels well enough. For example, if the child is not able to come back to school, he or she can drop by the school and stay in the car while classmates come out to say hello. This helps children to process the decline of health gradually.

The community can:

• organize a fund-raising event with proceeds going to the family or to an organization determined by the school or parent council
  - Cut Off Cancer
  - Swish for the Cure
  - Small Hands project
  - Wings of Hope
  

Also see:  What if the cancer proves to be terminal?