Pictured: Photos of SickKids patient Madi Scott taken 10 years apart.  

SickKids Hospital is tapping into a turn-of-the-year social media trend that went viral earlier this month, delivering a message around the difference it makes in the life of its patients.

In the spirit of the “#10YearChallenge,” which challenges social media users to post selfies taken ten years apart, the hospital for sick children has been posting before and after shots of its patients, highlighting the challenges they have overcome.

For example, one post shows Siena McLaven (pictured, right), who overcame a hole in her heart and a benign facial tumour to become an active high-schooler who lifeguards, teaches swimming and skis. Another shares the story of Madi Scott, an Elon University dance team captain preparing to graduate with two degrees, who, ten years earlier, was a little girl with cancer. Each post ends with the line “The difference is SickKids.”

The social campaign launched over the weekend across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and has encouraged many people to share their own family experiences with SickKids and even their own #10YearChallenge photos in replies and comments. More posts and stories are planned for the near future.

The effort is part of the organization’s ongoing efforts to fundraise $1.3 billion in order to finance the building of a new hospital.

Cossette, the agency behind SickKids’ “Vs” platform, led the creative concept.