Sweethearts for SickKids fundraiser celebrates a little fighter By Melanie Cummings SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER 9 · Thursday, February 4, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com T here's a birthday party for Luke Holmes this Sunday. It would have been the guest of honour's fourth. Now, his mom, Carolyn, dad Troy and brothers Zakary, 7, Max, 6 and Jackson, six months invite the community to join them in a cookie-decorating fundraiser to celebrate Luke's life. The second annual Sweethearts for SickKids Luke's Legacy party generates money for the Toronto hospital's Cardiac Critical Care Unit. That's where the baby born with a little heart spent 16 weeks fighting for his life and where medical teams there saved it twice. Luke lived 22 months before succumbing to congenital heart disease on Dec. 28, 2007. There are 500 nut-free cookies ready to be artistically iced and sprinkled for just a $5 donation at Whole Foods Market on Cornwall Road this Sunday between noon and 4 p.m. For those on the run, there are cookie kits available to take home and decorate. Last year, 350 cookies were sold RIZIERO VERTOLLI / OAKVILLE BEAVER KITCHEN HELPERS: Chipping in to help make cookies for the second annual Sweethearts for SickKids Luke's Legacy party on Sunday are (l-r) Max Holmes, 6, Jake Rollin, 5, mom Carolyn Holmes, Zakery Holmes, 7, and Isabelle Rollin, 7. The Rollin children are friends of the Holmes family. and $5,000 was donated to the car- Holmes Cardiac Critical Care Unit. ask for help has always answered diac care unit. "I can see his brothers unveiling the with `absolutely'," said Holmes. It's an event where the hugs of nameplate," said Carolyn. Tickle Your Tummy bakery strangers help to fill the void left by Luke's name is already a fixture donated the heart-shaped cookies, a special little boy, said Carolyn. at the hospital where a plaque was Whole Foods provides the space, The ultimate goal is to raise erected after grieving family and Golda's Kitchen and Nestle chipped enough money to rename the car- friends donated more than $30,000 in with the decorations and family diac unit at Toronto's Sick in his honour, following his funeral. friends cover all of the other costs of Children's Hospital the Luke "It amazes me that anyone we putting on this event. Due to this generosity, 100 per cent of the money donated goes to the Luke's Legacy fund. When Luke was born on Feb. 6, 2006, weighing eight pounds, nine ounces, Carolyn immediately thought something was wrong. This was a mom used to having doubledigit weight babies. Zakary was 10 pounds and Max was 11 pounds six ounces. Mom's intuition was right. Within 36 hours the newborn was transported to McMaster Children's Hospital and diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome and aortic valve stenosis -- in other words, Luke's heart wasn't pumping out enough oxygenated blood to the rest of his body. Already his kidneys and liver had shut down before Day Two ended. Luke needed surgery, fast, to repair the valve that's shaped like the star symbol on a Mercedes Benz. One of the three openings in the star wasn't strong enough to pump the blood through his body. "The first 10 days of his life were touch and go," said Carolyn. "But Luke didn't give up." Every time tests revealed his body was ailing Luke would bounce See Baby page 9 Oakville Generating Station View of proposed Oakville Generating Station from Royal Windsor Drive Environmental Review Report Public Review TransCanada is continuing its work to build, own and operate the Oakville Generating Station, a 900-megawatt high efficiency combined cycle natural gas-fuelled electricity generating station on an industrial site on the south side of Royal Windsor Drive just east of the South Service Road, in Oakville. The facility is part of Ontario's plan to supply clean, reliable energy to homes and businesses in Oakville and the south-west GTA, while allowing for the closing of Ontario's coal-fired electrical plants. TransCanada has completed a draft Environmental Review Report and supporting technical documents for the Project. The report will be made available for public review from January 26 to February 26, 2010. Copies of the report and supporting technical documents will be available electronically at www.transcanada.com/oakville and can also be reviewed at the following locations: TransCanada looks forward to receiving any comments you may have on the draft Environmental Review Report during this review period. Please send all comments to: Christine Cinnamon TransCanada Oakville Generating Station 8th Floor, 55 Yonge Street Toronto, ON M5E 1J4 Telephone: 1.866.317.9887 Fax: 905.764.9386 E-mail: oakville@transcanada.com TransCanada is committed to engaging with area residents, community organizations, and interested parties throughout the development of this project. Results of stakeholder feedback and comments on the draft Environmental Review Report become a key part of the Final Environmental Review Report and are integral to the approval process. The Final Environmental Review Report will be released in the coming months and will be available for public review and comment for a 75-day period. We will inform you of its availability when it is released. Details will be advertised shortly regarding a public Open House to present information about the facility, summarize the key points in the draft Environmental Review Report, and answer any questions. Clearview Library 1148 Winston Churchill Blvd. Oakville 905.815.2033 Iroquois Ridge Library 1051 Glenashton Dr. Oakville 905.338.4247 White Oaks Library 1070 McCraney St. East Oakville 905.815.2038 Central Oakville Library 120 Navy Street Oakville 905.815.2042 Clarkson Branch Library 2475 Truscott Dr. Mississauga 905.615.4840 Oakville Town Hall 1225 Trafalgar Road Oakville 905.845.6601 Copies of the draft Environmental Review Report will also be available with some community organizations. Please contact TransCanada for further details.