Shriners give $15K to HSN kids' botox clinic (2 photos)

Shriners in Sudbury and Toronto have presented a cheque for $15,000 to the Pediatric botox clinic at NEO Kids, the children’s outpatient centre at Health Sciences North/Horizon Santé-Nord (HSN).

Since 2004, the Sudbury Shrine Club and Rameses Shriners Toronto have donated approximately $385,000 to the clinic. The Boardwalk Gaming Centre assists the Sudbury Shrine Club in raising money for the botox clinic by hosting a special fundraising bingo.

“Our Sudbury Shriners are very pleased and proud that our Rameses Shrine Headquarters have joined with us in continuing our support for the BOTOX® clinic at NEO Kids,” says Gord Fraser, President of the Sudbury Shrine Club, in a press release.

“It reinforces the help our Montreal Shriners Hospital for Children Outreach Clinic offers our families in northeastern Ontario.”

Every year, about 25 injection clinics are held at HSN, serving about 100 children.

Benefits of the Botox injections include overall improvement in motor function/gait patterning (walking), improved upper limb function such as the ability to grasp and release objects with the hands, and better communication and self-help skills. In some cases, regular Botox injections delay or prevent the need for corrective surgery.

“This is the only pediatric clinic of its kind in northeastern Ontario and it has become a cornerstone of the specialized care we provide here at NEO Kids,” said Dr. Sean Murray, pediatrician and the Medical Director of the Family and Child Program at HSN.

“The ongoing support of the Shriners in Sudbury and Toronto has allowed us to maintain and expand this clinic. We would not be able to do what we do were it not for their support.”

In addition to providing direct financial support to HSN’s Pediatric Botox Clinic, a physician from the Shriners Hospital in Montreal travels to NEO Kids to perform assessments. Children can be referred to the Shriners Hospital for further treatment or orthopedic surgery. For hospital visits all care and services are provided regardless of the family’s ability to pay.