The Hopp Children’s Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ) is a joint institution of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD) and the University of Heidelberg (Uni HD.
Since 1982, the "Aktion für krebskranke Kinder e.V. Heidelberg" has been committed to helping children with cancer and their families. The aim of the association is to improve the situation of affected children, to advise the parents of children with cancer, and to promote research in the field of childhood leukemia and tumor diseases. The Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ) honored this commitment by organizing a concert for affected families, members, and supporters of the parents' association together with the SAP Symphony Orchestra. On September 23, the SAP Symphony Orchestra performed "Max & Moritz" by Gisberth Näther under the musical direction of Manuela Weiss in front of 200 enthusiastic visitors on the forecourt of the Children's, Skin and Women's Hospital at Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD). The proceeds from the concert went to the KiTZ, where they support the "Zeit schenken (Giving time)" project, which finances additional staff positions and services for the young patients at the KiTZ.
"After my eldest daughter was diagnosed with medulloblastoma in 1995 and died of it in 1997, I had to experience firsthand what it means to be more or less alone with one's worries and needs during this difficult phase of hospitalization," Stefanie Baldes recalls. She has been chairwoman of the Heidelberg Parents' Initiative since 2015 and on the board of the German Childhood Cancer Foundation since 2015. Previously, Gabriele Geib, whose son also died of cancer at the age of six, had led the association for 33 years. "A lot has happened since then," says Geib. "Of course, there have also been obstacles and setbacks in our work, but looking back, I can say: we have already been able to achieve a great deal for the better care of sick children and their families, which makes me very proud."
At the time the association was founded, the "psychosocial teams" now established on pediatric oncology wards did not yet exist. Their task is to support and accompany patients and their families during therapy and aftercare. Thanks to parents' associations such as the "Aktion für krebskranke Kinder e.V. Heidelberg", psychosocial care is now an integral part of patient care in this country, says Geib.
The activist and Green Party politician Petra Kelly was also a strong supporter of the "Aktion für krebskranke Kinder e.V. Heidelberg" and other parents' associations, particularly in the early days of the association. Thus, the name of the childcare facility "Kinderplanet" at the UKHD goes back to Petra Kelly. In addition to the Kinderplanet, the "Elternwohnen", a separate wing in the hospital that houses apartments for patients' families, is also an initiative of the Heidelberg Parents' Association, financed almost entirely by donations. There, parents and siblings can be very close to the young patients even during their stay at the hospital.
"Beyond this enormous social and psychosocial commitment, the association and its umbrella organization, the German Childhood Cancer Foundation, have done an incredible amount for research in the field of pediatric oncology and hematology," said KiTZ Director Stefan Pfister in his acceptance speech at the anniversary. "The "Aktion für krebskranke Kinder Heidelberg" (Action for Children with Cancer Heidelberg) alone has forwarded more than 21 million euros in donations to the Children's Hospital over the past 40 years. An incredible sum!"
Olaf Witt, also director at KiTZ, also thanked the Parents' Association: "The clinical focus "pediatric neuro-oncology", which I am allowed to lead, came into being due to several years of start-up funding from the Parents' Association. The association has played a major role in ensuring that our research focus, which is concerned with new treatment concepts for the therapy of children and adolescents with brain tumors, has been successful for many years. Today, our activities flow into the KiTZ, which was founded in 2016."
Andreas Kulozik, who, like Stefan Pfister and Olaf Witt, is a member of the KiTZ Board of Directors, added, "It is the shared vision of the Parents' Association and the KiTZ to open up new healing opportunities, especially for children for whom there were previously no treatment options, by closely linking research and medicine. We at the KiTZ Board of Directors are incredibly grateful to have such a committed and energetic Parents' Association at our facility."
