The famous Our Kids 2026 Calendar is out and on shelves at select businesses in Lismore and the Northern Rivers, following the official launch on Thursday evening at La Barraca in the CBD.

The launch is when the families and next year's featured children will see their photos for the first time.

The Lismore App caught up with Melissa, Brandan and four-year-old Annabelle while they were studying her photo. Annabelle is featured in December.

Melissa said that Annabelle was first diagnosed in July 2024, when they noticed a bump on her head.

"We just kept going from place to place. What is this? What is this? And then finally got redirected up to Queensland Children's Hospital, and they said, Well, this is leukemia. It's been shocking, but we're getting there, getting there slowly.

"She lost her hair twice. She's on chemo every day at the moment."

Annabelle wants to grow her hair long when she gets the chance, which looks likely to be towards the end of 2026.

"The prognosis is really good, and the B cells are good, we have a good prognosis on that. September 20 next year will be her last day, and then she can get her port removed about three months later, and then she's just a normal kid again."

As you can imagine, the journey has been extremely difficult for the entire family. Annabelle spent the first four months at Ronald McDonald House in Brisbane due to the protocols for the start of her treatment. It meant the family were living apart for that period of time because Brandan had to continue working to pay the bills.

"The world doesn't stop spinning," Brandan explained. "I still had to pay the bills, so I'd work, and then the second I finished on a Friday, I was out the door driving up to Brisbane, and drive back Sunday night, back to work on Monday."

It wasn't all bad, though, as Annabelle got to eat her favourite food, mashed potato, and met a new best friend. Indy is the same age and has the same cancer.

Following the first four months, Annabelle has spent quite a bit of time at Lismore Base Hospital, where her framed photo will now be displayed for the next twelve months.

The Our Kids Calendar has celebrated children who have spent time in the Children’s Ward and Special Care Nursery at Lismore Base Hospital since the inaugural calendar in 2001. For the past 24 years, local photographer Jacklyn Wagner has generously donated her time and talent to photograph each child, capturing their strength and spirit.

“The calendar project is an extraordinary body of work. It’s such a privilege to photograph the children each year and to have been part of this project and team for so long,” said Jacklyn.

The Our Kids Calendar team has remained unchanged for these past two decades, and in that time, more than 320 local families have been photographed and celebrated by Our Kids.

Alongside Jacklyn, the project is brought to life each year by local graphic designer Soren Hjorth from Graphiti Design, who creates the calendar’s layout and design; Shaun McGuiness from Lismore City Printery, who ensures each page is printed to perfection; and Sheila Turner from Picture Framing, who frames one special edition of the calendar.

(Jacklyn Wagner, Dr Chris Ingall, Rebekka Battista and Soren Hjorth at Thursday's Our Kids Calendar launch)

The twelve framed special edition photos are displayed in the foyer of Lismore Base Hospital for twelve months before being gifted to the featured child’s family at the following year’s launch, along with a handmade quilt from Quilts for Kids.

Under the guidance of Dr Chris Ingall and Rebekka Battista from Our Kids, this dedicated team continues to produce a beautiful keepsake each year. Thanks to the generosity of local sponsors, all proceeds from calendar sales go directly to Our Kids to help fund paediatric equipment for hospitals across the Northern Rivers.

This year’s sponsors are: Be Seen Eyewear, Goonellabah Medical Centre, McDonald’s, North Coast Radiology, Richmond Waste, Southern Cross University, WCA Accountants, Westpac Bank, Richmond Sand and Gravel, Hurford Hardwood, Graphiti Design, and North Coast Petroleum.

(Rosie checks out her handmade quilt from Quilt for Kids at Thursday evening's launch)

The 2026 Our Kids Calendar is available for purchase for $25, with all proceeds supporting local children’s health services. Dr Chris Ingall said this year's proceeds will be put towards a new ventilator.

"It's a Dräger, and it's a step up on the one we have now, which is a few years old," Dr Ingall explained. "They're both very modern ventilator machines, mostly used for newborn babies. We've had a couple of sets of twins born very early in the last couple of months, and we've used our Dräger, plus an older Bear Cub ventilator, which is good, but it doesn't give the babies just the right amount of pressure that we'd like.

"All of your generosity and time, and allowing your children to be photographed for the calendar, means that we'll more quickly get to that second ventilator. And then, of course, if one goes wrong, we'll always have the backup. It puts children in this neck of the woods in a much stronger position if they are delivered here, rather than, say, the Gold Coast or QCH."

You can play your part by purchasing the 2026 Our Kids Calendar for your home or as a gift for family and friends by clicking here or by visiting one of the following business across the region:

• LISMORE: Book Warehouse, McDonald’s, Angus & Coote, Westpac Bank, Lismore Base Hospital, Kidsnest
• CASINO: McDonald Pharmacy
• KYOGLE: Kyogle Pharmacy, Kym Malwakin Dentist
• BALLINA: Be Seen Eyewear, East Ballina Foodworks, Book Warehouse.

Thank you for helping Our Kids build better health services for our children across the Northern Rivers.