Christmas in July

Around this time last summer, we put on an event called Hoops for Hope. It worked like a walk-a-thon, but instead of walking laps participants shot free throws. We had a great time and raised roughly $1,000 to help us continue to fulfill our mission of sharing the love and hope of Jesus by serving, supporting, and encouraging families facing childhood cancer or other life-altering illnesses.

We wanted to do another summer event, and came up with Christmas in July. The elementary students at Christian Academy of Indiana did a fantastic job supplying us with toys for our winter parties; so much so that we have extra! We have a couple who has agreed to be our Santa and Mrs. Claus, so we're going to dress up and take the extra toys over to Kosair Children's Hospital. Instead of going to 7 West, the inpatient kidney/cancer unit where our winter party takes place, we are going across the hall to 7 East, also known as the OMO (Outpatient Medical Observation).

The OMO is an outpatient unit where kids go to receive outpatient treatments, infusions, procedures, and check-ups. The oncology patients go there for chemo, blood products, spinal taps, bone marrow aspirations, blood draws, etc. The OMO is where I received IVIG for 4 months immediately following my immune deficiency diagnosis, and I spent a lot of time there for kidney treatment growing up. During my treatment time there, I met lots of kids being treated for a variety of chronic conditions.

The other thing about the OMO is this: it's boring. Very boring. The kids don't spend the night on the OMO, but many of their treatments take hours on end. I was usually there for 5 or 6 hours total for IVIG, and have spent as long as 8 or 9 hours on those kinds of units getting treatment before. Many kids are there all day - from 7:00 or 8:00 am until 7:00 at night. The child life program at Kosair Children's is wonderful, but they are often so busy with the inpatient children that they don't have time to bring distractions to the outpatient children.

That's where we come in. I know it's boring, from personal experience. The movie, game, and snack selection is limited, and the space is cramped. So we're going to come bring a little joy and distraction - Christmas cheer, if you will - to the kids who have to spend a summer day cooped up in treatment.

We're taking Santa and Mrs. Claus with a wagon sleigh full of toys from room to room to spread some Christmas cheer on Thursday, July 28!

Where do you guys come in? Our event is less than a week away, and we still need the following:

1. A suit for Mrs. Claus. If you have a Mrs. Claus suit or know how to obtain one, please contact us.

2. Christmas cookies. We would like to take treats to the kids when we go. However, they must be store-bought due to infection control regulations. If anyone knows where to obtain Christmas cookies in July, or has connections with a bakery that would be willing to donate Christmas cookies, please contact us.

3. Prayer! As always, we need our event covered in prayer! Please pray for the volunteers as we go to serve - pray that God would prepare our hearts, that He would give us boldness to share His love and hope, and that all of the logistics would fall into place. Please pray for the families that we will encounter - pray that God would prepare their hearts ahead of time to receive His love and His hope. Please pray for opportunities to share the Gospel - and that we would be willing and bold to recognize and take those opportunities.

Thanks again for all of your support! What you do makes a difference!

Hoping, Believing, and Never Giving up,

Sarah