Cool Stuff to Boost Your Spirit
Cancer Connect
- A social network to ‘learn, support, and connect with others who have similar issues and concerns.
Cancer Kid Camps
- A guide to camp programs for children with cancer and their families.
Chemo Angels
- Chemo Angels connects individuals who are receiving chemo with a Chemo Angel and a Card Angel.
- Angels send weekly notes and occasional small gifts for ongoing support, encouragement, and cheer.
- Angels are carefully screened and fully committed and dedicated to honoring the Angel mission.
Children’s Oncology/Camping Association International
- An association that represents over 65 camps dedicated to serving children with cancer and their families.
- Member camps can be found on this site.
Children’s Wish Foundation International
- Grants wishes to children with potentially life-threatening illnesses
ComfyCozys for Chemo
- Bring dignity to those undergoing harsh treatment
- Their vision is to provide gifts to all children diagnosed with cancer
- Support healthcare professionals by providing families with empathy and support
- Help families override harsh protocols present in the healthcare system
Confetti Foundation
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- Supplies kids who spend their birthday in the hospital with a birthday party
- Participating hospitals in over 43 states
- Over 800 birthday parties have been thrown
- Each party box has a custom theme and contains: pom pom decorations, wooden spoons and forks, napkins, plates, cups, straws, coloring pages, crayons, stickers, a “happy birthday” banner, and hand-made birthday cards
Crowns of Courage
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- Provides “halo” wigs to children experiencing hair loss
- Halo wigs are made of hair attached to a soft, breathable cap
- Halo wigs are more comfortable and less itchy than traditional wigs
- Can use a child’s own hair or hair that has been donated.
Darren Daulton Foundation
- Provides financial assistance to those suffering from brain cancer, brain tumors, and brain injuries
- Qualifications for financial aid: diagnosis of brain cancer, brain tumor, brain disease and/or brain injury; currently receiving treatment for diagnosis; demonstration of financial hardship due to diagnosis (has or will have an estimated negative annual cash flow and/or negative net worth)
Digging Deep
- Free interactive video game, “Shadow’s Edge,” helps build emotional strength in young people challenged with serious health issues.
- Journaling, artistry, connections with one’s own emotions
- Opportunity to connect with others in similar situations
- Can be downloaded to Apple and Android devices or on Google Play.
Do It For The Love Foundation
- Grants live concert music experiences to people with life-threatening illness, children with severe challenges, and wounded veterans
Famous Fone Friends.
- Famous Fone Friends connects entertainers and athletes with seriously ill children by phone calls.
- Children can be referred through a hospital.
- Requests can be submitted or via phone or email.
- Information for making a referral is available on the website.
- Personal interests and/or requests are considered in the referral process.
Flashes of Hope
- Flashes of Hope is dedicated to photographing children with cancer and other life threatening illnesses.
- Professional, volunteer, award-winning photographers donate their time and talents to capturing children individually as well as with their families.
- Supporters such as favorite nurses and cherished stuffed animals may be in the portraits as well.
- Each family is given framed enlargements, proofs, and a CD of the portraits so that additional prints can be made.
- All services, prints, and CDs are free of charge.
- Flashes of Hope is partnered with hospitals throughout the country.
- Photography shoots are coordinated by local chapters of Flashes of Hope and affiliated hospitals.
Friends of Jaclyn Foundation
- Children with brain tumors are connected with, and then officially adopted by, local high school or college sports teams.
- The children become part of a team that offers support, love, friendship, and much more.
Gabe’s Chemo Duck Program
- Provides a cuddly, stuffed duck to children diagnosed with cancer. The duck is dressed in scrubs and equipped with a port
- The duck acts as a companion to ease anxiety
Go 4 The Goal
- Provides families with financial assistance while patient is undergoing treatment
- Grants wishes
- Requests must be made through hospital personnel (Child Life and social workers)
Hope Cam
- Connects patients to peers through webcam so that patients can overcome social isolation
- Allows for peers of patient to become more aware of patient’s condition
- Qualifications: grades pre-K to 12, must be undergoing treatment
Hope for Henry
- Hope For Henry Foundation provides gifts for both children battling life-threatening illnesses and their siblings.
- Hope For Henry Foundation organizes festive events such as Halloween Parties, Superhero Celebrations, carnivals, and birthday parties for children who are hospitalized.
- Hope For Henry Foundation works with pediatric hospitals to provide programs and gifts that will help create positive experiences for children in the oncology and hematology wards.
Icing Smiles
- Icing Smiles provides custom celebration cakes and treats for children with a life-threatening condition.
- Siblings of angels who, within 2 years have earned their wings, can also receive Icing Smiles cakes.
- The child’s eligibility must be verified via a blog, Facebook page, care page, etc.
- Once eligibility is determined, the parents are contacted by email.
- There are tiered 3D carved cakes (dream cakes) and other cakes (fun cakes) used for different events.
- The family can choose the theme, the baker chooses the design.
- Cakes provide up to 40 servings.
- When possible, cakes are to be picked up by the family.
- Icing Smiles provides a temporary escape from worry with lasting memories of a special treat.
Magic Yarn Project
- Provides soft, fanciful wigs made from yarn for little girls battling cancer.
- Free for all recipients
- Designs inspired by Disney characters
- Made by volunteers throughout the USA.
Melodic Caring Project
- Provides live-streaming concerts to patients in their hospitals or at home
- Artists directly connect with patients by giving shout outs and dedicating songs
Monkey in My Chair
- A Monkey In My Chair is designed for pediatric cancer patients (preschool through grade 6) who are unable to attend school due to their diagnosis.
- A large stuffed monkey, complete with a backpack (aka “the kit”) takes the child’s seat in school.
- The backpack includes a book for the teacher to help explain the situation to the class as well as how the situation affects the classmates.
- The book has a companion guide for the teacher.
- The kit has other items that can be used by both the child and the classmates.
- There is an online Monkey Message that has educational activities that encourage interaction between the child and the class to help maintain connection.
- Monkey Message is an avenue for sharing pictures, documents, and words of encouragement.
- Donations not only support the program, but also fund research for finding cures for cancer.
Musicians on Call
- Musicians On Call provides live and recorded music bedside to hospitalized children and adults.
- Musicians On Call also provides “CD Pharmacies” to hospitals. “CD Pharmacies” are CD libraries with accompanying CD players that are available to patients in the hospital.
NEGU (Never Ever Give Up) Jessie Rees Foundation
- Provides monthly doses of encouragement with small gifts
- Free iNEGU phone app sends uplifting video messages from celebrities and the NEGU team
Operation Panda Healing
- Delivers stuffed pandas to children ages 2 to 13 who are dealing with a health crisis to inspire hope, strength, and determination
Pinky Swear Foundation
- Help for pediatric cancer patients and their families with financial assistance to ease the burden of increased expenses. Direct financial aid is given for basic needs such as groceries, rent, transportation and so much more.
- Family experience programs for those patients out of the hospital for worry free fun weekends to create wonderful lasting memories.
Project Sunshine
- Social programs for children and their families facing medical challenges
- Programs include: book buddies/club, brightening the stay, caregiver wellness, creative arts and crafts, paint the halls, party time, star for a day, sending sunshine, sunshine at work, sunshine chefs, sunshine day and nights, sunshine tutoring and mentoring, and teen programming
Ryan’s Case for Smiles
- Brings comfort and support to patients and their families through decorative pillowcases
- Partnered with over 362 hospitals
- Over 50,000 children helped annually
- More than 40 million volunteer hours donated
Send Kids the World
- Free service to parents for their children to receive postcards with happy thoughts from around the world.
- A child’s name must be submitted by the parent(s) to the organization. It is then given to volunteers to create and mail the messages.
- The cost of the card and postage is absorbed by the sender.
Songs of Love
- Songs of Love creates personalized songs for children dealing with difficult medical, physical, or emotional challenges.
- The lyrics include the child’s name and references to special people, pets, interests, and activities.
- The language and the musical genre of the song can be specified.
Request forms are available on the website and can be submitted via email, fax, or mail. - The CDs are professionally produced and free of charge.
Starlight Children’s Foundation
- The Starlight Foundation offers a comprehensive list of supportive programs and resources for seriously ill children who are receiving care in a hospital or on an out-patient basis.
- Some of the Starlight’s programs include: family activities and outings; in-hospital entertainment technology; in-hospital playrooms, kid-friendly treatment rooms, and special events; educational and interactive theme-based games, webisodes, and other multimedia resources; and social networking-online communities for teens and their siblings.
SuperSibs
- The goal of Super Sibs! is to “ensure that the siblings of children with cancer are honored, supported, and recognized so that they may face the future with strength, courage, and hope.”
- Super Sibs! features games, activities, educational materials, journaling activities, newsletters, and other resources that are specific to different age ranges.
- Super Sibs! provides “Comfort and Care” packages, “Sibling STAR (Support, Training, Awareness, and Recognition) Kits,” and other programs for siblings.
- Super Sibs! offers a variety of information to resources for parents and guardians, grandparents and other relatives, friends and neighbors, psychosocial and medical professionals, educators, and religious and spiritual leaders
Team Impact
- Team IMPACT is the only U.S. nonprofit that helps children with serious or chronic illness overcome acute social and emotional isolation by matching them with a college athletic team for inclusion and purpose. Their two-year clinically-based plan for each child completes the full circle of healing, and results in relationships and skills that last a lifetime.
- Founded in 2011, Team IMPACT has matched more than 2,000 children with 700+ colleges and universities in 48 states, impacting more than 60,000 student athletes.
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