Lisa Scott
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 14/05) - Halloween is a big event in any house with three young children, but this year in Rob Hart's home, the spooky holiday has taken on a new meaning.

Hart and his family have launched the Yellowknife version of a national fundraiser for cystic fibrosis - the killer disease that afflicts his two-year-old daughter Katie.

By getting schools to sell glowsticks to kids heading out on the dark streets Oct. 31, the family is raising money for the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

The national campaign, called FrightLites, has raised $900,000 in the last six years.

"We're not going to pretend that we'll get millions of dollars, but every little bit counts," says the father of three.

An added bonus to the campaign is the "cool factor" of the six-inch glow sticks. The $3 tubes are filled with a gooey gel that lights up for up to 12 hours.

Kids flock to them like candy, plus they make them more visible to traffic on Halloween. With $1.50 of each sale going to cystic fibrosis research, Hart hopes that coolness will help lead to a cure for his daughter. "She's absolutely the reason we do this," he says.

"Most people hear cystic fibrosis and think, that's something really bad," he says.

But the disease that attacks the lungs and digestive system has come a long way from the 1960's, when the life expectancy was four years old, he says. Now, people with the disease are living almost to age 40.

Hart has two schools hooked so far, with orders for William McDonald school and Ecole St. Joseph for 100 glowsticks each.

For St. Joe's principal Flo Campbell, the campaign is a perfect fit. Her kindergarten to Grade 8 students will be able to be safer during the holiday and will learn a bit about cystic fibrosis.

"We always look for a win win situation. It's our way of reaching out to the community," says Campbell.