Hi! We just wanted to say thank you for the Wish Basket and for the amazing Target gift card. Here are pictures of what Madelyn chose to use her Target gift card on. She was SOOOOOO excited to pick out some new Barbie stuff.

Thank you!!!

Love,
Dan, Chris and Madelyn

Thanks to the Childhood Leukemia Foundation and Nintendo North America, Jacob Slayer has two brand new 3DS's and a $50.00 gift card for games to donate to the oncology clinic at LPCH :) in true slayer style, he is going through his own games to pick some to donate as well :)

Dear Kate:
Just wanted to stay in touch with you regarding the wonderful wish gift baskets that we receive from your Foundation for our Pediatric Cancer Children.

I had three Moms contact me regarding the wish gift baskets per the following:

One Mom called me to tell me that she had been unable to purchase a gift for her son, and that the Wish Basket was a real blessing because she wanted to have a gift for his Birthday. He had been undergoing treatment and the basket was so uplifting for him. It made her cry.

Another Mom told me that her son was so happy that he ran all around Target like it was a candy store and finally settled on a remote car which he absolutely can't stop playing with and then she was finally able to get him to try on a needed sweat shirt which he liked. She too, is very grateful for your help.

The third Mom called to say that her daughter's wish came true for her Birthday with the gift card, as she was able to purchase new clothes for school.

Kate, these are just a few of the Mothers, but I will speak for all of them and say Thank You So Very Much.

Best Regards,

Barbara Kopel
Central Regional Director
Emmanuel Cancer Foundation
1833 Front Street
Scotch Plains, NJ 07076

Anthony Gets a Wish Basket

Thank you to the Childhood Leukemia Foundation for the wonderful Target gift card and the wish basket filled with all sorts of helpful and playful goodies. Anthony used the gift card to get a Disney 'Cars - Crash Track' and the movie 'Rio.'

 - Faith Mewborn (Anthony's mom)

Ever hear the expression, "An apple a day...?" Of course you have and it may be truer than you think.

It turns out that consuming Red Delicious Apples - the skins in particular - can even slow the generation of cancer cells. That's right! Apples!

The key is in the skins of the Red Delicious.

Now look, there are many fruits that contain antioxidants. Frankly, apples are not even among the highest producers of antioxidants of the fruits we consume most. But studies have shown that Red Delicious apple skins contain more of the antioxidant known as polyphenols than seven other kinds of apples.

"So what," you may be thinking, right?

Shands Children’s Hospital at the University of Florida

ATTN:  The Childhood Leukemia Foundation

Re:  A Story that Needs Sharing

After receiving the foundation’s gift, social work presented the curious box to a six year-old male recipient.  Today is the 29th day that the boy and his family have been at the hospital.  When I entered the room this morning, it was clear that our patient was in a great deal of discomfort.  On either side of him were his parents who – try as they might- could not get their eldest to stop crying.

Upon seeing the purple house, however, our patient’s focus shifted.  Over the next ten minutes, I watched as he explored the contents of said package.  His blood pressure dropped, his parents relaxed, and a difference in what can be a cruel and unusual form of treatment was made.  Today was day 3 of chemotherapy and, thanks to you all, a day when this family was reminded that others care.

Thank you for making a difference.

Sincerely,

The Pediatric Social Work Department of Shands Hospital of UF

Lutheran’s Children’s Hospital

February 20, 2007

I want to take a minute to let you know how appreciative our oncology families are of the Hope Binders you generously supply since most parents are probably too exhausted or overwhelmed to thank you themselves. As a social worker, I am often one of the first people to meet the newly diagnosed patients and their families. After hearing their devastating news, many families cling to any information they can put their hands on and find it helpful to have a way to organize all of the clinic notes, lab reports, brochures, medication sheets, phone numbers, etc. they receive. We have passed out numerous Hope Binders and often I hear back from the parents, normally weeks to months later how much it mean to them knowing there were FREE resources available early on in their child’s care. The phone cards are also a big hit and sometimes I see parents sitting in their child’s room filling out their binder as if it was their homework.

Thank you again for all of the services you provide to many of our children and families including Hug-U-Wear and Letters of Hope. Knowing there are agencies like yours makes my job easier and truly has brought joy to the children we serve.

Sincerely,

Michelle Brate, LSW
Pediatric Outpatient Clinic Social Worker

June 1, 2010

Dear Childhood Leukemia Foundation Staff:

This letter is being sent in gratitude to the calling cards made available to our oncology children and families.  To be able to provide a calling card to a mother who is staying at bedside as her little one is undergoing chemotherapy provides her with a  link to the other children/parent back home.  For the patient to hear the voices of his/her siblings give them a sense of feeling supported and loved.  For the teenager who needs to feel connected to his/her peers a calling card can be therapeutic tool to enhance a sense of belonging.  To the parents who are awaiting a surgical tumor debulking outcome, a calling card can be their means of letting others know the important even taking place and rallying support.  To the child who has long awaited his/her discharge home, a calling card can give the child the honor of announcing this special moment to family and friends who can then prepare for their homecoming.  And for the parent whose child has just dies it can give them the connection needed to share this once in a lifetime experience with significant others.

The list of scenarios like these mentioned are endless but they are all possible because of your generosity.  May you continue to make a difference in a child’s life and thank you so very much.

Sincerely,

Dolores Cornejo LCSW
Pediatric hem/Oncology Social Worker
Department of Social Work

Dana Farber Cancer Institute
September 18, 2009

To Whom It May Concern,
I am writing in support of the Childhood Leukemia Foundation and their innovative resource for patients and families known as the Hope Binder.  As a medical professional in an outpatient Oncology clinic, I have seen countless families benefit from this resource.  It has helped them keep their child’s medical information organized, provided educational information and support.
In addition, the Childhood Leukemia Foundation has been wonderful to work with.  They continuously check in with my organization, provide the binders seamlessly at no cost to us.  Any expansion of this program or others by the foundation would be a great benefit to those that may receive them.

Sincerely,
Martha Young, MS, CCLS
Patient and Family Education Specialist
Blum Pediatric Resource Room
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Jimmy Fund Clinic

Dear Childhood Leukemia Foundation:

This letter is to acknowledge the donation made to the Mayo Eugenio Litta Children's Hospital of one Nintendo Wii system by the Childhood Leukemia Foundation . As you can imagine. the Wii systems are very popular and serve a recreational as well as a therapeutic role during the care and recovery of our young patients. It is amazing the way that the real world disappears when kids become ennited in the virtual world. Although the escape is temporary, it serves to allow children and their families some time of diminished worries and stress and some time to regroup in order to move forward.

We appreciate the kindness and generosity of the Childhood Leukemia Foundation and Nintendo as they partner to make this all possible

Thank you very much.

Randy McKeeman, M.S.Ed.. CCLS Child Life Program Supervisor

Dear CLF:

For our Cookies 4 Kids cookie sale we have raised around $940.  We have spent many hours asking stores for donations, making posters, informing our local community, and selling the cookies.  The $940 has been donated to children with leukemia.  The total number of hours we have worked on this community service project is 26 hours.

Briana and Alyssa

Dear CLF,

I am writing to you on behalf of my 12 year old daughter Nicole who has put together her team of volunteers for Cookies 4 Kids.  Nicole and her group had their first bake sale on Jan 25, last Thursday.  They held it at their school, Keyport Central, during the school basketball games.  They raised $134.00 and sold out all of their items.  Nicole and her team purchased all their ingredients to make their items themselves.  They all chipped in their allowance money and bought the items.  Then they asked permission from the Captain and their local First Aid Squad if they could use their kitchen since they had 2 ovens and the big industrial cookie sheets.  They baked everything the night before making packets of all different kinds of cookies, brownies and even mini loaves of banana bread which was a big hit. They had a periodic  meeting at Nicole’s home organizing the event and made flyers that they put up in the school and making posters for the day of the event which had difference slogans and also information about the Cookies 4 Kids program explaining what it was all about and listing the website to get more information.  They plan to hold a bake sale every month if possible, they are checking out other local events where they can put a table also they are checking with their church.  They already have an event day April 14th which is a Saturday.  It is Keyport Pride Day which they already have a booth held for them.   They will be designing their own T-shirts for the day and spreading the word about helping children with this horrible disease.  Their reward is that they are able to help.  Sometime in June the children would like to set up a day that someone from the foundation can come down so that they can present them with a check for everything that they have raised.  I have a friend who works for the Asbury Park Press who will come down too.  The list of Nicole’s Team is:

• Nicole
• Kathy
• Michael
• Carly
• Darlene
• DJ

Everyone is proud of these young people; many of them want to join the Keyport First Aid Cadets next year since they love helping people.  I know for one, my daughter Nicole’s goal is to be a pediatric doctor when she goes to college.

Thank you,
Mrs. Michele

Dear Kim,

Thank you so much for choosing to donate the Wii to the Kids Cancer Foundation. Thanks to the thoughtfulness and generosity of the Childhood Leukemia Foundation, the children in the outpatient area now have a wii to help brighten their day and help make their visits to the hospital a little more entertaining and enjoyable. As you can see by the pictures, the children all love the new Wii and have even set up on-going Wii tournaments that they participate in during their outpatient visits.

The Kids Cancer Foundation is honored to have been chosen to receive this thoughtful gift that has brought hours of entertainment and laughter (which is something we truly value) to these brave children who are battling cancer. There are simply not enough words to thank you for this gift that means so much to these children and their families.

Yours truly,
Michelle

Dear Ms. Reid,

My name is Morgan.  I am an eighth grade student at St. Joseph’s Grade School and I chose Cookies 4 Kids as my Christian project.  I liked the idea of doing something that would directly help the kids.  My mom dated the supplies and helped me do the baking.  I cam up with the idea of making baskets of cookies for the holidays.  Through family, friends and my parent’s co-workers, I have earned $300.00 so far.  I am still getting orders and will keep baking through the holidays.  This has been a rewarding experience and has given my mom and me lots of quality time together.  I have enclosed all of the money earned so far and will send the rest when I am done baking.  Would it be possible for you to send me a letter acknowledging my help in supporting the Cookies 4 Kids program?

Yours truly,

Morgan

I wanted to send you this picture of our patient, Kendall Wynne, in her new hug hat! This was taken during her hospitalization this week for chemotherapy. With her is one of our volunteer therapy dogs, Char. It was “movie time” for Kendall & Char when we brought her hair to her, and as you can see, she loves it!

Thank you!

Anita

Dear CLF,

My Hug makes me feel great inside and out! When I wear my wig it makes me feel donfident that my cancer is gone.

Yours truly,

Emily

<

I am writing to thank you on behalf of myself and my daughter for the hair piece that she received through the Greenville Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Center in South Carolina.  I want you to know what a difference this has made to my daughter.  Ashley was diagnosed with cancer in October 2001.  She had just started her first year of high school.  She was fourteen.  I won’t tell you how this has changed all of our lives because I am sure you are well aware.  Ashley has always worn a ski cap since loosing her hair.  Her appearance seemed much less important for many months.  This has made such a tremendous difference for her.  We are hoping she will start school again next year and with her hair piece I know it will make the transition much easier.

Again thank you so much,

Laura W.

Thank you so much for the “hug”!  Micah loves it. She’s 4 years old so she doesn’t really care too much about not having hair.  But it still bothers her sometimes.  She wears the Hug whenever she feels like having hair, a lot of times she’ll leave the house in it then take it off.  Sometimes the opposite.  It makes her feel more fancy when playing dress up or mommy.  Of course I think she’s a cutie either way, but I am very thankful that you have provided this gift for her.  She doesn’t have a lot of freedom to always choose what she can or cannot do.  Now she can choose if she wants hair or not!  Thanks again!

Kelly C.

I love to have hair again!  Thanks so much, you’re very nice!

Love,

Amanda N.

Thanks so much for helping to boost Amanda’s self confidence during Chemotherapy! Its tough!

Denise N.

Dear Kim & Friends of the Childhood Leukemia Foundation:

First and foremost, thank you for your generosity towards our families here at the Ronald McDonald House. It was so thoughtful of you to donate the Hope Binder for the families of cancer patients. We try to have as many useful resources for the families as we can. The Wii is wonderful! What a fun distraction for the patients and their families while they are staying here for their various treatments. It will be a great addition to our game room.

We have had a very full house for the past few weeks and we will continue to be very busy during the remainder of the fall months. We have served families from all over Florida, Colorado, New York, New Jersey and have recently served families from as far away as Barbados. Thank you again for your kindness and be sure to check out our website (www.rmhcjax.org) and Facebook page to see what is happening at the House.

Maura Black Program Assistant
The Ronald McDonald House

Dear Kim:

Thank you so much for the "Hope Binders". All of our families have found them to be a great resource and they are perfect for organizing all their road maps, medications, physician contact information as well as test and lab results. They have now all taken the contents of their patient/parent handbooks and put that in the binder as well. Best of all they really like the idea that they can place all the important information about their child's care in one book that they can take with them when they go to the hospital, infusion room or doctor's office.
We can't thank the Childhood Leukemia Foundation enough for this wonderful resource and for many of our families the phone card has also been a great help as well. Any financial assistance they can get is greatly appreciated and much needed.

The Kids Cancer Foundation as well as, the children and families we care for are grateful to be able to receive these "Hope Binders" which have come to be an invaluable resource for our families. Thank you so much for all you do at the Childhood Leukemia Foundation because you are truly making a difference in the lives of children battling cancer by helping to make their journey a little easier.

Yours truly,
Michelle

Hello Kate,

I just wanted to thank you for my Hope Binder. My social worker delivered it after I asked her in the hospital for one. I had papers all over the place and so I was able to toss all the loose folders and organize everything into yours. I love the hole punch so I could sit in clinic and accomplish it while waiting for my son (turned 6 yesterday) to recover from bone marrow aspiration and spinal. We just reached consolidation. I heard the Wish Baskets are really fun - hope he is able to get one down the road. ;)  The social worker said they are great on a hard day. The phone card was wonderful, I gave it to my Mom who lives in FL so she can call us as she doesn't have long distance on her phone - she is 81. It helps her feel like she is not so far away. The binder is GREAT!

Sincerely,
Sarah Clarke Kleinhans
Mother of Addison Kleinhans, diagnosed April 6, 2010 with B-cell ALL Leukemia. Just started Consolidation. Whew.

Hi! Thank you so much for the wish basket that my daughter Rena received from you today. We immediately went to Target after we left the infusion clinic (of course!). She got soooo many toys and had a blast. Please enjoy the attached pics!

Thanks,

Jennifer Malcolm
www.caringbridge.org/visit/renamalcolm

Dear CLF:

Thank you for sending Lexi a gift basket full of goodies and a $50 gift card. Your present couldn't have come at a better time for her. She had just recently lost her hair for the third time and was very shy about being in stores with no hair but she got the gift card [and] was thrilled about buying stuff. She ran up and down the ailes looking for what ever caught her eye. She finally set her sights on four DVDs and a special coloring book. For those 30 minutes she was in Target, she had forgotten she was bald. Thank you for your kind gift and best of luck helping other kids.

- Lexiana Salazar and Family

We wanted to thank you so much for the amazing wish basket for Addison. His treatment has been so tough lately and we have had to drive 2 hours rt 4 days a week lately. He LOVES his ipod and he gets lost watching the beautiful Rocky Mountain scenery and listening to his music as we drive. The pj's are GREAT as is the squishy ball and cards which he shared with his 8 year old, often left out sister. He used the gift card to buy this baseball stuff. He was diagnosed in April right before his 6th birthday and just at the start of much anticipated T-ball which Dad was going to coach. It was so sad when he found out he couldn't play this year - he was crushed. SO, when your card arrived, we used it to get his own t-ball and ball stuff so he could play with Dad in the back yard.

I use my hope binder all the time. My favorite is the ANC chart, I have made copies for many cancer mom friends to use as well.

Thank you for all you do for us and others in our same situation.

Hugs,

Sarah, Addison, Kip and Madelene

Sarah Clarke
Model/Actress
www.Donnabaldwin.com

Dear Childhood Leukemia Foundation,

It has been a few weeks since I last wrote a 'reaction' e-mail to your foundation.  Please know that the boxes have been given out to several patients who have more than appreciated them.  Here are three stories that will hopefully give you a smile as you read them...

Bailee has been a patient here at Hope for over a year.  She just recently came back to us after going through some treatment at a different hospital.  On the day of her clinic visit, she came up to Hope's pediatric floor that she once spent several weeks and months receiving chemotherapy just so she could say hi to the staff.  It was during this visit that I was able to give her Wish Basket.  She could not believe that I was giving her a present with her name on it.  She opened the box in the middle of the hallway.  All the contents were spread all over the floor for everyone to see.  Mom read your letter and was overwhelmed with emotion at what this letter said and what the box entailed.  Bailee was particularly excited about the mp3 player and the Target gift card.  They were going to go straight to Target so she could buy herself a present!  She had all the staff come over and see all of her goodies.  Her reaction was priceless! 

Bryttany is a teenager that usually spends her inpatient visits under the covers, lights off in her room, and converses minimally with anyone who walks into her room.  Last Friday she was a patient in our outpatient clinic.  I went down to visit with her and she was upbeat despite the fact that she may be relapsing.  I brought her the Wish Basket box while she was waiting for the doctor to come into her room and all she kept saying was...OMG, the box is purple.  She didn't even want to open the box because it was purple and her absolute favorite color.    She did eventually open her beautiful purple box.  She was so excited to receive a Target gift card and was immediately throwing around ideas as to what she would get with it.  As she was pulling out the items from the box she kept saying, "How did they know that I love purple?  Are all the boxes purple or just mine?"  It was the perfect time to bring in the box.  It distracted her from why she was in the clinic.  While going through her MRI later that day she thought of Target and the items she could buy with her gift card. 

James is another teenager who received his box last week.  He is a quiet teen who doesn't say too much to staff.  I gave him his box and he was completely speechless.  His smile, facial expressions, and verbal gratitude for the box said a lot to his appreciation for your service.  He actually had expression...this was PRICELESS! 

Again, thank you so much for all you do for the patients we serve at Hope Children's Hospital.  You are absolutely the best.  For Thanksgiving, our hospital is incredibly thankful for your foundation!  We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and holiday weekend!

Sincerely,
Nicole

Nicole Lennie MS, CCLS
Advocate Hope Children's Hospital
Child Life Specialist
4044 West 95th Street
Oak Lawn, Illinois 60453

Dear Kim,

Thank you so much for the "Wish Baskets". We have been giving them to our patients on their Birthday's and I must say from the youngest (3 years old) to the oldest (18 years old) they have all loved their basket. Most of all it is wonderful for all the staff in the hospital, infusion room and doctors office to have the opportunity to present the child with this special basket for their Birthday. The baskets have not only brightened the child who receives its day but also brightens the day for the child's family as well as all the staff.

We can't thank the Childhood Leukemia Foundation enough for this wonderful gift. On behalf of the Kids Cancer Foundation as well as, the children and families we care for we want to give a special thanks to the Childhood Leukemia Foundation for all you do to help make the difficult journey of battling cancer a little easier for these children and families.

Yours truly,

Michelle President