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Making a Difference: 2025

At Kindred, we are hopeful.

Hope is a simple little word.  Hope has an innocence, maybe even a naivety to it.  Yet when you pause to consider the role hope plays in our lives, we see it for what it truly is: not a weakness, but a reflection of strength.

Holding on to hope takes courage.  Being hopeful is hard, especially when the odds are not in your favour.  We rarely acknowledge the effort it takes to remain hopeful, assuming it is a state of mind or an intrinsic quality that is natural and effortless.  Being hopeful demands grit and persistence.  It requires us to continually build the fortitude to believe that things can, and will, get better.

Hope is also an act of rebellion.

Hope can be your armour and shield as you navigate through the darkness.  Believing that things will get better, even when every voice tells you it isn’t possible.  Hope can give you the courage to keep trying, which in itself is an act of defiance.  It is the refusal to accept a prognosis as the only path forward, and the determination to seek another route.  And then, do everything possible to make sure your feet land on that new pathway.

The work we do at Kindred requires hope.  Hope allows us to listen carefully to the communities we support, collaborate meaningfully with partners, and act with intention to make a difference.  We believe in being of service to those in need through connection and purpose, guided by the strength of a hopeful heart.

We are honoured to share our 2025 Making a Difference Report with you.  May it bring you hope and remind you of the good we can accomplish when we choose to believe and act together.  

Thank you for being hopeful with us.

We Are Grateful for 2025

Looking at the Numbers

Kindred Foundation is a registered Canadian charity dedicated to funding health research and programs primarily focused on children, adolescents and young adults.  To ensure sustainable giving, Kindred Foundation is built on a solid endowment model with 100% of receipted donations directed towards our charitable purpose.  We maintain low overhead and are focused on making a difference.

At Kindred, we are incredibly lucky to work together with many charity and corporate partners.  You will learn about them throughout this report and how we are doing more together.  In the next graph, you can see the importance of our partners and the impact they have on giving at Kindred Foundation.  We don’t believe in taking their thunder, they deserve so much credit for the difference they make. 

We Pride Ourselves on Doing Things Differently

• We believe that there is NO competition in charity.  We will always be stronger and able to do more when we work together with other charities, organizations, and people. Partnership and collaboration, within Canada and internationally, are critical.

• Our endowment fund is expertly designed and managed, using advanced and balanced investing that regularly builds revenue back into the endowment fund to ensure its growth.

• We have a strong mission-centric infrastructure that can effectively, expertly, and positively manage philanthropic capital of any size and type.

• We can provide more than funding to our charity partners.  We can provide access to a natural outdoor event space called Tecasy Ranch, operational feedback, in-person volunteer hours, connections to other partners, and more if needed.

• We engage in community-based decision-making when operating in areas where we do not have direct expertise.  We believe in giving the power to decide how our funds will be allocated to those who represent the communities in which we are working.  Our partners and guides help ensure funds go to trusted and meaningful initiatives in the communities they support.

Committees at Kindred Foundation

When we work together and support one another, we can achieve more. Integrating charitable partners within Kindred Foundation reduces shared overhead and administrative costs while creating a unique and sustainable organizational structure. This approach enables multiple groups to collaborate efficiently and effectively to address shared challenges.

Corporate Partners

Collaborators and Charity Partners 

Childhood, Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Research and Programs

While significant progress has been made in childhood, adolescent, and young adult (CAYA) cancer care, the reality remains stark: cancer is still the leading disease-related cause of death for children, and far too many diagnoses carry unacceptable cure rates. For many survivors, cure comes at a high cost—treatments that save lives too often result in lifelong physical, cognitive, and emotional challenges. At the same time, families are asked to navigate treatment far from home, disrupted employment, and overwhelming financial strain, with inadequate supports to help them recover from the emotional and economic devastation of their child’s cancer journey.

We invest in research that accelerates better, safer treatments, and we build programs that wrap families in support—during treatment and beyond—so that no child’s outcome, and no family’s future, is determined by where they live or what they can afford.

New Research Funding for 2025

Team Syren: Pediatric & Young Adult Disseminated Low Grade Glioma Brain Tumours

In late 2023, we met Katie Bernard and Martin Bell. Their son, Alex, was in treatment for a rare, disseminated low-grade glioma brain tumour called DLGNT.  Katie had created an international network to connect families and patients diagnosed with DLGNT. Martin was training for the Everest in the Alps challenge. Together, they were fundraising with a shared goal: to create a dedicated research grant focused on these rare pediatric and young adult brain tumours.

There is growing interest in treating cancer by helping the body’s own immune system destroy cancer cells, rather than relying only on harsh chemotherapy. One promising approach, called adoptive cell therapy, uses immune cells taken from a patient’s tumour.  These are called tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and are grown in the lab and then returned to the patient to fight the cancer.

This approach has already been approved for adults with melanoma, but important challenges remain, especially for children. In this project, the researchers aim to improve how these immune cells are grown and how well they work in pediatric cancers.  The goal is to bring safer and more effective treatments to children with advanced or hard-to-cure disease.

Updates on Ongoing Funding to Childhood cancer Research Projects

Kindred Foundation and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada

In 2022-2024, Kindred Foundation and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada (LLSC) partnered to fund two pediatric oncology Blood Cancer Research Innovation grants.  Each awardee was provided $200,000 over two years, with Kindred funding $100,000 for each grant.  The work on one of these grants is now complete and the second one continues with a no-cost extension:

Dr. Cynthia Guidos at the Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto): Identifying the Genetic Changes that Lead to Ruxolitinib Resistance. ($100,000 total)

While most children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) are cured with modern chemotherapy, those with a high-risk subtype called Ph-like ALL often relapse due to drug resistance, particularly in Hispanic/Latino and Indigenous populations. A targeted drug, ruxolitinib, is being tested in a clinical trial to improve outcomes, but some leukemia cells still evade treatment. This research aims to study why this resistance occurs and identify new therapies to target these resistant leukemia cells, with the goal of preventing relapse in children with Ph-like ALL.

UPDATE: A newer targeted drug, ruxolitinib, was designed to block a key pathway involved in this disease, and a recent Children’s Oncology Group clinical trial tested whether adding it to chemotherapy could reduce relapse. By closely studying leukemia cells from children in this trial, we found that different genetic changes are linked to distinct cell behaviors at diagnosis, and that leukemia cells can change over time during treatment. These findings may help guide more personalized treatment approaches and support the development of new therapies to prevent or overcome drug resistance in children with Ph-like ALL. 

In Memory of Bo with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada

The LLSC Pediatric Blood Cancer Innovation Grant aims to address gaps and improve outcomes.  Kindred Foundation is proud to partner with LLSC again in 2024 to co-fund research on pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (pAML).

UPDATE: Researchers studied a protein called XPO2 in childhood and young adult acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and found that it plays a critical role in helping leukemia cells survive and grow. When XPO2 was reduced in leukemia cells, the cancer cells grew more slowly, were less able to survive, and were less likely to take hold and spread in mouse models, leading to longer survival. Importantly, reducing XPO2 did not harm normal blood-forming stem cells, suggesting it may be a safer treatment target. XPO2 levels were especially high in aggressive forms of AML linked to very poor outcomes, including leukemias with NUP98 and NUP214 gene fusions. The study also discovered that XPO2 helps leukemia cells make proteins by supporting ribosome production, revealing a new biological weakness that could be targeted by future therapies.

DECRYPT Childhood Embryonal Brain Tumour Research Grant

In December 2023, Dr. Annie Huang from the Hospital for Sick Children, and her cross-country team, were awarded the DECRYPT research grant.  This was for the project: “DECRYPT Babybrain Trial for Children Under 6 Years Old with High-Risk Embryonal Brain Tumours.”  The DECRYPT grant was originated by Kindred Foundation and Phoebe Rose Rocks and is co-funded by:

UPDATE: The clinical trial is open at multiple hospitals, including The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), BC Children’s Hospital, Alberta Children’s Hospital, CHU Sainte-Justine, London Health Sciences, and more. Dr. Annie Huang was also able to leverage the funds provided through the DECRYPT grant to receive additional funding from the ACCESS consortium to expand the clinical trial to more centres across Canada.

In January 2026, the DECRYPT-Babybrain clinical trial had already enrolled 6 patients.

This $600,000 CAD research grant is being provided over 4 years and aims to:

• Advance the current understanding of how to treat, diagnose and/or monitor childhood embryonal brain cancer.

• Grow expertise in pediatric embryonal tumours and expand that expertise across Canada.

• Conduct research that is meaningful to patients and prioritize the translation of research from the laboratory to the clinic.

In February 2026, Dr. Annie Huang’s DECRYPT-Babybrain clinical trial was profiled on CTV News and Global News.  Thank you to all our charity partners and to CMLS and Intellifi Corporation for helping us to fundraise for DECRYPT in 2022. 

100% Fund Grant for Osteosarcoma

The “100% Fund” is a childhood cancer research grant managed by the C17 Council where every dollar raised goes towards research. 

Dr. Rebecca Deyell | BC Children’s Hospital, Vancouver BC

Impact of Body Composition and Pharmacogenomics on Toxicity and Survival Outcomes in Childhood Bone Sarcoma

UPDATE: The research team has successfully analyzed imaging data from children and young people who took part in earlier studies, with all scans securely shared, organized, and fully analyzed in collaboration with partners. A scientific paper describing the first phase of results has been drafted. In parallel, the team has gathered and organized imaging and clinical data from more than 100 sarcoma patients across nine sites in Canada, creating one of the largest national datasets of its kind. While some image analysis took longer than expected, a one-year extension was approved to ensure the work is completed thoroughly and accurately.

Thank you to CMLS and Intellifi Corporation for helping us to fundraise for this 100% Fund grant that was also co-funded by Sarcoma Research Canada, with support from Childhood Cancer Canada.

ACTION Consortium Grant

This 4-year grant aims to accelerate the development of treatments and clinical trials for children with relapsed and hard-to-cure neuroblastoma cancer. The ACTION consortium is a collaboration across Europe, the UK, the USA, and Canada.

UPDATE: A single proposal moved forward in the evaluation process for the ACTION consortium grant and underwent modification based on expert and advocate input.  The team has been working on drug access, contracts, data sharing agreements, and division of responsibilities.  This is a large-scale international project, with everyone involved hoping to move forward together in 2026.

Dr. Anirban Das | SickKids, Toronto

Biomarker development for combined PD1+LAG3 inhibition in RRD glioblastoma

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a deadly brain tumor that often resists standard treatments. Dr. Das’ team developed mouse models of a GBM subtype caused by DNA replication errors and tested new immunotherapy combinations with promising results. They are now studying immune responses and biomarkers, with approval to trial the therapy in children, aiming to advance it toward larger clinical trials and potentially set a new treatment standard.

UPDATE: In 2025, the research team made strong progress testing new immunotherapy approaches in laboratory models, showing improved survival and slower tumour growth, even in cases where tumours are typically harder to treat. In patients, early results are encouraging: more individuals are benefiting from treatment stability or tumour response, with fewer treatment interruptions compared to older combination therapies. We have also put systems in place to closely study how the immune system responds over time, allowing us to better understand why these treatments work and to develop markers that may help guide future patient care.

Dr. Jongbok Lee | University of Calgary

Developing novel off-the-shelf CAR-T cell for relapse/refractory infant AML

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in infants is highly aggressive, with limited treatment options especially when the cancer relapses or doesn’t respond to chemotherapy. Dr. Lee and his team are exploring the use of donor-derived T cells, specifically CD4-CAR-DNTs, which show strong anti-cancer activity in laboratory models and could offer a promising treatment for infant AML. This project aims to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of CD4-CAR-DNTs for treating CD4+ infant AML, potentially offering a new therapy for patients with recurrent or resistant disease.

UPDATE: Over the past year, the researchers made important progress toward a new immune-based treatment for infant leukemia. They confirmed a reliable target on leukemia cells, developed a highly effective and long-lasting treatment approach that can overcome resistance to standard therapies, and built in safety features to better protect patients. Together, these advances bring them closer to clinical trials and offer new hope for infants and young children facing this aggressive disease.

Childhood, Adolescent, and Young Adult Cancer Programs

In 2025, Kindred Foundation:

• Launched 4 new Treats & Treasures Carts – at Health Sciences North in Sudbury Ontario, Credit Valley Hospital in Mississauga Ontario, Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital in Orillia Ontario, and Victoria General Hospital in British Columbia (in partnership with Finn’s Committee).  We now have 13 Treats & Treasures Carts across Canada!

• Grew the Family Support Package program with the Phoebe Rose Rocks Committee and partnership from Tali’s Fund and Icebox Market.  118 packages with $350 in gift cards were provided to childhood cancer families across the country.

• Supported 40 families across Canada to help cover expenses related to having to travel for care through the U-Link Patient and Family Fund in partnership with Phoebe Rose Rocks and Tillsonburg Running With The Bulls.  We provided up to $2,000 per family.

• Started the Housing Support Program and helped 42 families from CHEO, SickKids, Montreal Children’s Hospital, and IWK.

At Kindred, we fund childhood, adolescent, and young adult cancer research because we need more and better treatments for kids in the future.  We also fund programs that support children and their families during treatment to help ease a small amount of the burden they are experiencing now. 

The following was an additional donation made in the area of cancer research and programming in 2025:

The Treats & Treasures Cart program is run in partnership with The EVAN Foundation (USA).  The three Treats & Treasures Carts in British Columbia are run in partnership with Finn’s Committee. 

UPDATE - Canadian Carts Launched in 2025:

• Victoria General Hospital (Victoria, BC) - In partnership with Finn's Committee for the entire pediatrics department and the pediatric clinic (October 2025).

• Orillia Soldiers' Memorial (Orillia, ON) - For the entire pediatrics department and the pediatric clinic (September 2025).

• Credit Valley Hospital (Mississauga, ON) - For the entire pediatrics department and the pediatric oncology/hematology clinic (June 2025).

• Health Sciences North (Sudbury, ON) - For the entire pediatrics department and the pediatric clinic (June 2025).

Canadian Carts Launched from 2021-2024:

• Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre (Moncton, NB) -For all pediatric patients and the pediatric clinic (December 2024).

• Southlake Regional Health Centre (Newmarket, ON) - For the entire pediatrics department and oncology clinic (July 2024).

• Surrey Memorial Hospital (Surrey, BC) - In partnership with Finn's Committee for the entire pediatrics department and oncology clinic (May 2024).

• IWK Health (Halifax, NS) – For the oncology/hematology unit and clinic (January 2024).

• HSC Winnipeg/CancerCare Manitoba (Winnipeg, MB) - For the oncology/hematology clinic (July 2023).

• BC Children’s Hospital (Vancouver, BC) - In partnership with Finn's Committee for the oncology/hematology unit and clinic (January 2023).

• Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital (Saskatoon, SK) - For the entire hospital and oncology/hematology clinic (July 2022).

• Alberta Children’s Hospital (Calgary, AB) - For the oncology/hematology unit and clinic (July 2022).

• Stollery Children’s Hospital (Edmonton, AB) - For the oncology/hematology unit and clinic (September 2021).

U-Link Patient and Family Fund Details

• The fund covers costs such as accommodations and food; $2,000 on average is given to families.

• The application is simple, and the reimbursement process is streamlined to reduce stress on the family during this difficult time. E-transfers are provided within 5 days of submitting receipts.

• The fund is managed by a committee with membership from the two charities and a pediatric oncologist.  All applications are reviewed confidentially, with guidance from the child’s care team.

Since 2025, we have been honoured to partner with Tillsonburg Running With The Bulls (RWTB)! Funds raised from this annual running event go towards the U-Link Patient and Family Fund.

U-Link Patient and Family Fund Details

• The fund covers costs such as accommodations and food, up to $2,000 per family.

• The application is simple, and the reimbursement process is streamlined to reduce stress on the family during this difficult time. E-transfers are provided within 5 days of submitting receipts.

• The fund is managed by a committee with membership from the two charities and a pediatric oncologist.  All applications are reviewed confidentially, with guidance from the child’s care team.

From 2024 to 2025, Kindred experienced a 4x growth in the number of applications to the U-Link Patient and Family Fund. This program has become an important resource for Social Workers across Canada when helping families and patients manage the expenses that come with a cancer diagnosis.

Half of the families are travelling to the US for treatment (20/40), and the majority of these families are travelling to access proton beam radiation therapy as it is not available in Canada (17/20). They must travel to Boston, Jacksonville, or Cincinnati and stay for over 6 weeks in the USA. Provincial health authorities cover the cost of the treatment; however, few help families with personal expenses.

The Housing Support Program is a new initiative for Kindred Foundation.  Started in 2025, this program assists families living in Canada who have a child in active cancer treatment and are experiencing financial hardship. The program works closely with each family to understand their unique financial challenges, develop a personalized budgeting and debt management plan, provide mortgage counselling when needed, and offer direct mortgage or rental assistance.

The goal of the Housing Support Program is:

To ease the financial burden faced by Canadian families caring for a child with cancer, 

enabling them to remain in their homes during treatment.

This program is designed and run by Kindred Foundation, in partnership with the nesto group (nesto, CMLS, and Intellifi), Hoyes, Michalos, & Associates (Ontario), Childhood Cancer Canada Foundation, Forvis Mazars (Quebec), and Powell Associates Ltd. (Maritime Provinces).

The Housing Support Program is currently running at four hospitals:

• Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO – Ottawa, Ontario)

• Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids – Toronto, Ontario)

• Montreal Children’s Hospital (Montreal, Quebec)

• IWK Health (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Every family is provided with personalized counselling from a Licensed Insolvency Trustee, guidance from a Licensed Residential Mortgage Specialist (if needed), and an e-transfer of $5,000 to cover the costs of their rent or mortgage payments (once approved by the Housing Support Committee).

In 2025, 42 families in Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick 

received support through the Housing Support Program

The Housing Support Program is a unique program supporting families who have a child in active cancer treatment.  There is no other program like it in Canada.  We began accepting applications in April 2025, and in less than a year, the program expanded to four provinces, supporting 42 families.

These 42 families were able to take a little step forward instead of all the steps backwards that come with a childhood cancer diagnosis.  It gave them a little breathing room to focus on their child and not worry about the roof over their heads.

Since 2024, Tali’s Fund has partnered with us to provide family support packages to families across Canada who have a child with a brain tumour.  Thank you to Tali’s Fund for your support!

In 2025, Icebox Market partnered with us to give pediatric oncology families at SickKids $50 gift cards to purchase delicious, ready-to-go meals. Having a healthy meal from Icebox Market means one less thing to worry about.

Youth Mental and Physical Health

Youth mental and physical health continues to impact youth in Canada and around the world at an alarming rate. In 2025, Kindred Foundation funded several initiatives outside of our Youth Mental Health Grant:

Scholarships

Kindred Foundation provides multi-year scholarships to students from marginalized communities to help them realize their educational dreams.  Multi-year funding is provided directly to the student.

This year, Kindred Foundation developed 3 new partnerships, creating 8 new scholarships with the Black Education Fund each year:

• Helen Prior Memorial Scholarship, funded by Grace United Church (5 new)

• Maureen Monette Leadership Scholarship, funded by the Monette family (2 new)

• Crabb Family Scholarship, funded by the Crabb family (1 new)

UPDATE: In 2025, we are supporting 40 students with scholarships! 

I made it to my second year and I am so thankful to Adventure4Change for being such an inspiring community hub and to Kindred Foundation for supporting my educational journey again this year. Since last year, I’ve transitioned from part-time to full-time studies at Wilfrid Laurier University and am preparing to officially declare my major in Sociology this spring. This support has allowed me to fully focus on my studies and work toward my long-term goals in Sociology. I’m also grateful to Kindred Foundation for providing these beautiful opportunities for others to grow and succeed. I’m proud to be part of a community that believes in potential and the future." - Ikran Ahmed

“I am grateful to the Kindred Foundations for their generous scholarship support during my medical education. This award enabled me to focus fully on my academic training and career development as I pursue a future in a surgical specialty. Beyond the financial relief, this scholarship served as a powerful affirmation of my potential and motivated me to strive for academic excellence, leadership, and service. I am thankful for the Kindred Foundations’ investment in my education and in the broader goal of supporting the next generation of leaders in healthcare.” - Obinna Esomchukwu

Kindred Foundation x Adventure4Change Scholarships

Sabrin Abdulahi: 4-year scholarship - Social Sciences & Humanities, University of Toronto

Ikran Ahmed: 3-year scholarship - Sociology, Wilfrid Laurier University

Habiba Musse: 2-year scholarship - Global Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University

Sabrin Dahir: 1-year bursary - Business Commerce, MacEwan University

Daimon Adhanom: 1-year bursary - Pre-Health Sciences Pathway, Conestoga College

Black Education Fund Roster Scholarships

Oluwabukola Alabi: 4-year scholarship - Social Work, University of Regina 

Blessing Ochasi: 4-year scholarship – Nursing, Humber Polytechnic

Elizabeth Ogunade: 3-year scholarship - Molecular Biology and Psychology, University of Toronto

Jaelle Kouatchou Kouadop: 2-year scholarship – Medicine, McGill University

Jenayah Wilson: 2-year scholarship – Social Work, University of Windsor

Deenah Wright: 2-year scholarship – Master of Education in Psychology, McGill University

Kehinde Obanikoro: 1-year bursary - Biology, Concordia University

Helen Prior Memorial Scholarships

Miracle Okoroma: 3-year scholarship - Biomedical Sciences, Toronto Metropolitan University

Oluwademilade Fajemirokun: 3-year scholarship - Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, McMaster University

Halimat Eji: 2-year scholarship – Micro immunology and Physiology, Western University

Donielle Francis: 1-year bursary - Journalism, University of Toronto Scarborough

Adanna Ubosi: 1-year bursary - Social Work, Toronto Metropolitan University

Mareen Monette Leadership Scholarship

Ezana Ghedam: 2-year scholarship –  Biomedical Science, University of Ottawa

Ruth Alemayehu: 2-year scholarship – MSc of Health Systems, University of Toronto

Crabb Family Scholarship

Uchechi Esonwanne: 4-year scholarship – Nursing, McMaster University

Youth Mental Health Grant: 2025 Update

Initiatives Funded by the Kindred Foundation Youth Mental Health Grant in 2025

• Adaptable Outdoors (AB): Pathways to Nature - Youth Empowerment Through Inclusive Outdoor Recreation

• Adornment Stories (ON): Moving Our Stories

• Canvas (ON): Back Talk - Voices of Queer Youth

• Cerebral Palsy Association of British Columbia (BC): CPABC Gamers Club

• Muslim Social Services Waterloo Region (ON): The TAWHID (Together in Acceptance, Wellbeing, Healing, Inclusivity, and Diversity) Youth Care Training Program

• Northern Adapted Sports Association (BC): Adapted Connections Through Sport

• Parents of Black Children (ON): MindFULL - Youth Mental Health Assessment Initiative

• QMUNITY, BC’s Queer, Trans and Two-Spirit Resource Centre (BC): Gender Supportive Wear Program

• Vancouver Association for Survivors of Torture (BC): Rooted and Rising

Community Support

Community is strong when it is rooted in connection, trust, belonging, and mutual care. Vibrant communities support the well-being of individuals and families, fostering both healing and growth. However, neglecting the essential elements that sustain these bonds can deeply affect a community’s overall well-being. Kindred is prioritizing two vital areas of support: addressing food insecurity and enhancing end-of-life care for both children and adults.

Food Insecurity

Rising food costs continued to be a major issue through 2025, creating significant challenges for individuals and families.  This situation has placed considerable strain on food banks, meal programs, and other initiatives aimed at tackling food insecurity in Canada. The following are the food insecurity programs that Kindred Foundation supported in 2025:

Hospice and End-of-Life Care for Children and Adults

To date, Kindred has donated over $900,000 to impactful projects and programs in hospice, palliative, and end-of-life care for children and adults across Canada.  The following provides more information on our Kindred Cares Grant for pediatric and adult hospice and palliative care programs.

Kindred Cares Grant 2025

Hospice and palliative care are interdisciplinary, holistic approaches that relieve suffering and improve the quality of life for individuals with life-limiting conditions.  Accessing hospice and palliative care programs in Canada can be difficult; there are only a handful of dedicated pediatric hospices in Canada.

In 2021, we established the Kindred Cares Grant to fund operations, programs, projects, and/or research in hospice, palliative, and end-of-life care for children and adults with life-limiting conditions.

Kindred Cares: 2025 Update

Kindred Cares Grant Details

The Kindred Cares Grant was created to:

• Support Canadian community-based hospice and palliative care.

• Assist with research, projects, programs, and/or operations related to palliative care for children with life-limiting conditions across Canada and adults in Ontario.

Initiatives Funded by the Kindred Cares Grant in 2025

• Bobby's Hospice (NB): The Reflection and Family Legacy Rooms

• Camp Maple Leaf (ON): Camp Skein at Camp Maple Leaf

• Canada’s Pediatric Palliative Care Alliance (ON): Creating Canada’s Core Collection of Grief and Bereavement Resources for Families Following the Death of an Infant, Child or Youth

• Compassionate Grief Centre (NB): Living with Cancer Program

• Hospice Northwest (ON): Roots of Resilience: Family Grief & Healing Retreat at S.O.I.L.

• Lionel Kelland Hospice (NL): Caring Through Connection: Strengthening Grief & Bereavement Supports in Central Newfoundland

• Oliver’s Offerings (NS): Bereavement Retreat

• Roger Neilson Children’s Hospice (ON): Young Grievers Summer Camp

• She Has The Tools Productions (PE): Feeling Left Behind: Living with Grief

• The Dream Factory (MB): Family Supports - Hospital Parking for Dream Families

• Young Adult Cancer Canada (NL): Eastern Canada Peer Support for Advanced Illness, Grief & Bereavement (Young Adults 18–39)

Funding Research: Bereavement Supports in Inner City Communities

In 2025, Kindred Foundation, in partnership with Mitacs, supported Dr. Christine Wang at McMaster Children’s Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario, to advance research and deliver bereavement programming for youth in inner-city communities.

Grief supports are essential to help children process death in ways that preserve their sense of safety, purpose, and self-worth. Inner-city youth often face compounded challenges, including increased exposure to substance use and higher rates of death related to injury, violence, suicide, and poorly controlled chronic disease. Many newcomer and refugee families living in these neighbourhoods may also carry unprocessed trauma related to conflict or war.

The project aims to provide accessible grief resources and workshops that address key barriers to bereavement care, including limited culturally responsive services, community distrust of historically oppressive institutions, and the stigma associated with substance-related or homicide-related grief. Programming focuses on creative, developmentally appropriate approaches to grief processing, supporting parents in navigating conversations about serious illness and death, and increasing awareness of traumatic grief within socio-cultural contexts shaped by longstanding inequities in health care.

Additional Hospice and Palliative Care Donations in 2025

With Immense Gratitude for Our Donors and Supporters

Hope does not stand alone. It is strengthened when we choose to act, to show up, and to stand beside one another. Throughout this report, you can see what hope looks like in practice.  It is there for families supported during unimaginable moments, in partnerships built on trust, and in communities coming together to close gaps that should never exist.

At Kindred, hope is not passive. It is woven into every decision we make and every program we support. It is found in the belief that no family should face cancer alone, that access to care should not depend on geography or circumstance, and that compassion, when organized and intentional, can change lives.

None of this work happens in isolation. It is made possible by the generosity, commitment, and shared belief of our donors, partners, volunteers, and advocates. Your willingness to hope with us, and to act on that hope, creates real and lasting impact for children, young adults, and families across Canada.

To Close, With Kindness

As we look ahead to 2026, we do so with hope. Hope that continues to challenge the status quo. Hope that drives us to listen, learn, and do better. And hope that reminds us that even in the hardest moments, progress is possible when we move forward together.

Thank you for standing with Kindred Foundation. Thank you for choosing hope.

Take care of yourselves and each other.