Jacinta Gomez, 12, was diagnosed with leukeamia in April.

Her parents, Kirsten and Rick, respectfully declined the offer of financial help from friends and instead asked for any money raised to be donated to the John Hunter Children’s Hospital Paediatric Oncology Ward.

One of the family friends, Theresa Blair, helped to launch the Cupcakes for Kids with Cancer fund, on behalf of the hospital.

“The hospital has approved extending the campaign until the end of July and so far the total raised is $11,854,” Ms Blair said.

“We’re hoping to get it up to $15,000.”

The extension was granted after wet weekends prevented some local sporting clubs from hosting their own cupcakes events on game day.

“The Morisset Strikers (soccer) and Westlakes Netball Association are a couple of the local clubs that had been planning events,” Ms Blair said.

“We’ve been really overwhelmed by the response to it all,” she said.

“And that includes from total strangers. I had a call the other day from a woman telling me that she was going to bake cupcakes and asking me where she could take them.”

Ms Gomez, meanwhile, said Jacinta was nearing the end of her current treatment protocol, and the family was hopeful of good news.

The treatment regime now involved administering tablets and injections to Jacinta at home.

“We’d watched the nurses give her injections all the time at the hospital, but to have to do it ourselves at home was confronting,” Ms Gomez said.

Because the chemotherapy had weakened Jacinta’s immune system, she was often kept in isolation to protect her from infections, her mother said.

The enforced time at home had enabled Jacinta to watch her collection of Gilmore Girls DVDs, and play with her growing collection of Leggo.