Nintendo of Australia press release - Pikachu to help sick kids

Hospitalised children at the Royal Children’s Hospital will be helping Pokémon® celebrate its 10th Anniversary with Captain Starlight on Tuesday 12th September in the Starlight Express Room at 1.30pm.

Captain Starlight, with the help of Pikachu, will be holding Pokémon battles on the big-screen, and a Pokémon Trivia challenge. For these special celebrations, Pikachu will be inviting kids in the room to help cut the Pokémon 10th Anniversary cake.

“Starlight relies on supporters like Nintendo to help provide a positive distraction and some much needed fun for seriously ill children. Activities like Pokémon’s 10th Anniversary party give the kids something to look forward to, and allows Starlight to provide an opportunity for kids to simply be kids and have fun - to do the things that illness can often take away,” said Sean Coleman, Starlight Programs Manager.

“We are delighted to be able to participate in this activity. The Starlight Children’s Foundation does so much to help sick kids. Anything we can do to help entertain, amuse, and bring some joy to their lives is especially rewarding for all of us at Nintendo,” said Rose Lappin, Director of Sales and Marketing, Nintendo Australia.

The Starlight Children’s Foundation brightens the lives of seriously ill and hospitalised children by delivering innovative programs that restore the fun, laughter and joy that serious illness can take away.

The Starlight Express Rooms are a part of a program of distractive therapies which are designed to be an integral part of the total health care of children. These programs provide sick children with a healing environment that includes entertainment, diversion, fun and laughter. Our Starlight Express Rooms create a place where kids can just be kids and escape the loneliness, boredom and stress of hospitalised life.

Since establishing in 1994 in Australia, Nintendo have been a proud partner of the Starlight Children’s Foundation. Nintendo’s support first started with a donation of Nintendo 64 units for the Starlight Express Rooms across the country. Since this time they have also provided Nintendo GameCube™ and Nintendo DS™ units. Nintendo also support Starlight by providing Nintendo consoles for over 400 Starlight Fun Centres in 162 paediatric wards nationally.

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