🎄💛 Christmas in July with ABSURD 💛🎄

Hi everyone,

My name is Emmett Ouellette, and I'm 16 years old.

💛 Earlier this year, my life changed overnight.

In February, I was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL).

One day I was a typical teenager worrying about school, friends and music. The next, I was sitting in a hospital room learning I had cancer.

Since then, I've spent weeks in the hospital, countless hours connected to chemotherapy, and learned that cancer is about so much more than medicine.

It's long days.
It's long nights.
It's boredom.
It's loneliness.
It's missing birthdays, vacations, friends and just being a normal teenager.

My mom always says that community isn't built when life is easy—it's built when people show up for one another during life's hardest moments. Burlington has shown up for me in ways I'll never forget, and now I'd like to spend my treatment helping show up for someone else.

During my treatment, I received one of Charlotte's Smiles 4 Kids Project care packages.

Charlotte, age 11, is another incredible childhood cancer fighter who decided to spend her energy helping children receiving cancer treatment across Ontario. Receiving one of her gift bags meant more than I can put into words. It reminded me that complete strangers cared enough to make a difficult day a little brighter. She is unfortunately now in hospice but her legacy has been created and since January has delivered over 600 of her bags to all oncology clinics in Ontario!

Her kindness made me realize something...

One small act of kindness can completely change someone's day.

It inspired me to ask,

"What can I do?"

I've always loved philosophy.

To me, the word absurd describes those moments in life that simply don't make sense.

Childhood cancer is absurd.

No child should ever have to face chemotherapy, lose their hair, miss school or spend months living in a hospital.

I can't change that reality.

But I can choose how I respond to it.

ABSURD is my way of fighting back with kindness.

There are so many amazing organizations supporting younger children.

But as a 16-year-old, I quickly realized teens often fall into the middle.

We're too old for many of the toys...
but we're still kids.

My goal is to make hospital stays just a little easier for older kids and teens by providing things that bring comfort, distraction and a sense of normal life.

Cancer can feel incredibly lonely.

That's why I created a private Discord community specifically for teens with leukemia. Discord is an online tool that allows you to have several separate chats and organized on a topic so kids can chat about things like, music, gaming, general interest, motivational quotes etc. 

In just a short time we've already welcomed 16 members from Canada, the United States and Australia.

It's become a place where teens can ask questions, vent, laugh, support one another and realize they're not facing this alone.

To launch ABSURD, we're inviting our community to celebrate Christmas in July!

The idea is simple...

Let's fill Santa's sack in the middle of summer for teens spending July in hospital instead of at the beach, camping or hanging out with friends. We’ll be bringing these items to the Ronald MacDonald House that has had an empty basket (see picture below) since I’ve been diagnosed. 

🎮 Games

🧩 LEGO

📱 Tech accessories

🎧 Electronics

🧸 Comfort items

🎨 Art supplies

📚 Journals

💳 Gift cards

...and anything else you think would brighten a teenager's hospital stay.

📦 Drop off a new item at this collection location.

💳 Donate a gift card.

📧 Send an e-gift card or cash donation directly to:
absurdforteens@gmail.com

🛒 Shop our Amazon Gift Registry

https://www.amazon.ca/registries/gl/guest-view/N7H6SPGIB6A5

We're still building the registry, but there are already items available, and we'll continue adding more over the coming weeks to make giving as easy as possible.