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Birthday Party in a Box Program
Sorry. . . .
THIS PROGRAM HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED
Sick kids should have extra special birthday celebrations - especially when they're not sure how many more birthdays they'll have. Can you provide and mail a box of goodies so each of our birthday children can have a party, even if they're in a hospital?
As a volunteer sponsor of a PARTY IN A BOX, you would purchase, package, and mail everything needed for a party -- items such as those listed below:
** Candles, table decorations, plates, cups, napkins
** Noise makers, happy birthday banner, and other party favors or
decorations
** Party games, and fun things, which you might find from the dollar
store (surprises to make them laugh, like funny glasses, whoopie cushion,
etc)
** A few small bags of goodies for children who attend the party
(optional)
** One or two nice -- but not overly expensive -- wrapped birthday gifts
($5 each?) You can read about the sorts of things each child likes
here: www.hugsandhope.org/kidslist.htm
** NO BALLOONS PLEASE, as they pose a choking hazard and some kids are allergic to the latex.
** Cake mix and canned or boxed frosting mix are optional, since they are heavy and costly to mail. Instead, you might consider enclosing in the box a gift card for Wal-mart, where parents can purchase a cake or anything else needed for the party.
You need not spend a fortune on this box, and it's not necessary to provide everything on this list, but please do send enough to make the child's birthday special and fun. AND SEND GOOD QUALITY ITEMS, please. Kids will be disappointed if they receive a box of junk.
NOTE: Please be sure to read the child's story on our site. Learn about their specific illness and ESPECIALLY their physical limitations. Make sure the contents of the box is age appropriate and suitable for the child's abilities. For instance, don't send coloring books and crayons to a child who cannot use his/her arms or videos to a blind child, etc.
Shopping for these party boxes is great fun! If you go to the Dollar Store, you can purchase a lot of fun things for a relatively small amount of money (maybe $30 for each box). If you cannot afford to send a box yourself, perhaps a group of your co-workers or your church group could put together a box for a child, OR you could mail the child a $25 gift certificate for Wal-mart and they could pick out their own party supplies. And remember that you must pay the postage to mail the box, as well as the cost of the contents.
It would be helpful if you could sponsor the next available child -- the one with the soonest birthday, rather than choosing one whose birthday is farther away. But that is your choice. You may send a box to whomever you choose. Just coordinate it with the project organizer, Jan.
It usually takes about a week for a box to get to its destination, and I would say they should arrive at least a week before the actual birthday (because kids often have parties before their actual date of birth), so mail at least two weeks before the date of birth
| Please remember that addresses we provide for our club kids are not their home addresses. Therefore, boxes sent to them will need to be forwarded from the address you mail to. UPS will NOT forward. The post office will only forward boxes sent FIRST CLASS MAIL, which can be costly. Keep that in mind before volunteering. The cost of the box AND the shipping may be more than you can afford. You may want to share the cost with a second sponsor. You can double check whether you need to use the postal service by emailing the mom or Jan to see if the box will be forwarded within the same town. If so, then you wouldn't have to use UPS. But if the box is forwarded to another town or state, UPS wouldn't work. |
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