Medic April/May Children’s Health

April 5, 2015

Medic April/May Children’s Health Campaign | SIDS and Kids

April/May, 2015

The following is an overview, taken from Medic’s campaign page. For a message from Medic founder, Eve, research and donation links and more details, be sure to visit http://mediccharity.com/2015/04/05/childrens-health-aprilmay-2015/

We’re thrilled to announce the kick-off of our Children’s Health campaign for April and May! Here’s all you need to know about the cause, the charities and the campaign!

The Cause: Children’s Health

Medic’s key force is in Australia, but we have awesome members all over the world! As such, while our focus charity for this campaign is SIDS and Kids, our UK and US Medics will be fundraising for similar causes in their communities.

The Charity: SIDS and Kids

What is SIDS?

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or ‘SIDS’ also referred to as cot death, is the sudden, unexpected and unexplained death of an apparent well baby. Most deaths occur in the first year of a baby’s life. Infants born prematurely and/or underweight are at a higher risk. SIDS is more common in baby boys.

What Causes SIDS?

Sadly, there is no known specific cause of SIDS, however research has shown that it is thought to be a combination of factors. Experts believe that SIDS occurs at a particular stage in infant development, and more so in babies that are affected by particular environmental stresses. Premature babies have increased vulnerability due to low birthweight and reduced development in utero.

Environmental stresses such as breathing obstruction, becoming tangled in bedding, tobacco smoke, and minor illness are also believed to be contributing factors.

What does SIDS and Kids do?

SIDS and Kids is a community driven charity dedicated to saving the lives of babies and children during pregnancy, birth, infancy and childhood.

Sadly, for many infant deaths, the cause is not known. As such, SIDS and Kids works to fund and support research into stillbirth, SIDS, and safe sleeping practises. As well as this SIDS and Kids advocate for, and support bereaved families.

The Campaign: CO-OP

For this campaign, Medics will be doing our best to play support for the brave kids who deal with health complications in their youth. We’re working with charities who have goals to help make childhood a safe, healthy and happy time for kids everywhere. We want to #BePlayer2.”

Fundraising + how you can help!

LIVE STREAMS!
We’re kicking off our twitch channel with some streaming marathons of co-op games! If you’re great at Twitch, either behind the scenes or on camera, we’d love your help to make this run and smoothly and be as fun as possible! This is a great opportunity not only to raise money for some amazing charities, but to grow Medic’s audience and increase the reach of ALL of our campaigns.

CONVENTIONS!
The Medic donation box will be on a tour of the country with Oz Comic Con with Eve, but remember that every convention and geeky get together is an opportunity to do something fun for a good cause. If you’d like to organise something for Medic at your convention, let Eve and the core team know and we’ll do everything we can to make it happen. Be it an after dark event like the crazy successful Playing Field at Beta Bar, or a table to sell ZazBeads Medic hearts and accessories, there are so many ways we can make sure Medic has a strong presence in the community. Get creative and experience the awesome rewarding feeling of combining geeking out with friends and raising money for charity.

AUCTIONS
We have so many talented and connected folks in Medic, so it’s time to harness those super powers to make positive change! We’re going to be holding a series of auctions of awesome geeky swag, with all proceeds going direct to the charities. If you can donate items to be auctioned off, or know someone who can, this is your time to jump in!