the other night, there was a knock at the door of my apartment (which i always greet with suspicion, because my assumption is that most high-rises have non-solicitation statements) and i thought that it must have been a mistake - so i went to the door to see who it was. i was surprised to see an incredibly sexy, dark-haired woman through the peep hole, so naturally, i opened the door.

the woman had incredibly bright blue eyes (which were probably coloured cosmetic contacts), a luscious tan, dressed in flattering tight black suit from head to toe, and her soft, bronze and bountiful breasts fairly spilled out of her blouse.

it turned out that she was there collecting donations for the sick kids foundation , the fundraising arm of the sick kids hospital here in toronto . i was intrigued to learn the following:

• sickKids is rated among the top four children's hospitals in the world
• they perform over 80 surgical procedures ever day
• more than 725 babies were admitted to their neonative intensive care unit last year
• they treat over 14,000 children in almost 300 beds each year
• their emergency department sees almost 50,000 children each year
• there are more than 1,834 research projects currently underway at sickKids

i've often walked down king street or yonge street or even here at bloor west village and seen the canvassers for donations, but i've never felt that i had the time or the inclination to donate to something that i've always felt was a worthy cause. and i felt ashamed. i mean, financial support is perhaps the weakest form of support (second only to refusal to offer any support - and well below volunteering or more active support), but i was pleased to offer an ongoing monthly donation.

they have the ability on their website to collect donations at any time - and i think that this is a very worthwhile cause. while i have no children of my own, i was one once, and i can imagine that if i did have kids, i would want to have absolutely the very best resources available to protect the life and future of my kids.

- g