Bill and Destiny Haggett pictured with their kids, Front: Carson and his sister Hudson. Back: Colton and Chansen {photo courtesy}
From Bill Haggett, general manager of the Coral Springs Center for the Arts
I want to take a moment to tell you a little about the Festival of Trees and its motivation. I hope you will be inspired to join The Coral Springs Center for the Arts and me in bringing the community together for the holidays.
Fifteen years ago, my six-year-old son Chansen was diagnosed with cancer. What followed was a whirlwind of emotional and financial devastation that ebbed and flowed through the three and a half years of treatment from the first diagnosis.
This devastating diagnosis was only the beginning. Two years following the end of his treatment, Chansen relapsed in his spinal fluid at 11 years old. After beating leukemia, a second time, he remained in remission for seven years.
We believed his cancer was finally behind him, but then at the age of 20, he was diagnosed with a very rare cancer, Fibrolamellar Carcinoma.
This disease is a rare Liver Cancer that attacks young, healthy adults and children with healthy livers and currently has no cure. Research and treatments for this cancer have been advancing quickly in the last five years with help from clinicians, surgeons, and researchers dedicated to finding a cure. Families like our own have a lot of reason for hope, and it is due to organizations like the Fibrolamellar Cancer Foundation.
Our family, throughout the years, has been blessed with a community supporting our son’s battle, and we have been repeatedly shown what the power of community can do. With that in mind, we have created the Festival of Trees to raise money for pediatric cancer research.
This year we have earmarked the event to benefit the foundation. 100% of the proceeds from the sponsorships will go to the Fibrolamellar Cancer Foundation, whose focus is on research.
The foundation is focused on research at some of the top cancer research facilities in the world, searching for cures for this rare pediatric and young adult disease. 100% of the money they receive goes to research to help find a cure. Finding a cure for Fibrolamellar Carcinoma is just the start. Research being done for this unique cancer will lead to cures for many other pediatric cancers like it.
Additionally, the Festival of Trees includes a teddy bear tree. This community-minded part of the event allows participants the opportunity to add teddy bears to our teddy bear tree. These teddy bears are then donated to pediatric patients at local hospitals and to families in need.
This wonderfully giving event can’t happen without your help. I ask for your help by partnering with this annual event and sponsoring it in some way. The Coral Springs Center for the Arts,
The City of Coral Springs and my ultimate goal is to make this event not ours but the communities. Together we can make a difference! I hope you will join me in this mission.
Thank You, Bill Haggett
Festival of Trees is a lobby display campaign benefitting The Fibrolamellar Cancer Foundation and a local Florida hospital.
Sponsor organizations are invited to come to decorate their tree in their chosen style, which will be displayed in our lobby for December. During this month, we have a host of well-attended shows, from International Ballet’s “The Nutcracker,” Coral Glades High School music program, to a New Years Day celebration with The State Ballet of the Ukraine’s presentation of Swan Lake, plus a tribute to Pink Floyd and a new offering of the touring show, Hip Hop Nutcracker.
All proceeds from the Festival of Trees event will go to the charity directly, and we will also let the trees serve as a notice to our visiting guests that they, too, can donate to FCF. These efforts will be shared on our social media outlets and marketing list to display you, our community partners, and our fundraising efforts to all.
TREE SPONSORSHIP
As a tree sponsor, your organization’s name is displayed with the tree. Sponsorship includes the tree and 8.5″x 11″ sponsor sign. Your group is responsible for decorating the tree with a theme that expresses your message. The trees will be displayed from December 2, 2022, until January 2, 2023.
Cost: $200 plus decorations and love.
WREATH SPONSORSHIP
Same as the tree sponsorship above using a wreath.
Cost: $75 plus decorations and love.
THE TEDDY BEAR TREE
Also available for participation is the 19’ tall lobby Teddy Bear tree. This tree is decorated with teddy bears, and the sponsor donation includes the opportunity for guests to purchase a teddy bear to place on the tree. Before the holiday, these teddy bears will be donated to local children’s hospitals for distribution to pediatric patients. This sponsorship puts your company’s name on this wonderful gifting tree and provides the opportunity for the sponsor to donate bears bearing logos to be sold to decorate the tree. Cost: $500. Includes the initial bear decorations.
Coral Springs Center for the Arts – Hope for the Holidays (954) 344 5990
2022Festival-of-Trees-Sponsor-App9-3-4179622d82
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