What Was in This Week's Joy Package Delivery
On Tuesday we delivered Joy Packages to Advocate Children's Hospital in Park Ridge. Forty bags. Forty children in active pediatric cancer treatment.
Here is what was in this week's bag.
One sensory ball, the squishy kind that fits in a small hand.
A small Slinky in a clear plastic case.
A pack of stickers that a child can apply one-handed during an infusion.
A coloring book with thick pages that hold up to a juice spill.
A six-pack of jumbo crayons.
A small Play-Doh container (sealed and clinic-approved).
A pop-it toy in a hospital-friendly color.
A small finger puppet.
A handwritten note from a Maxwell's Toy Box volunteer.
None of these items cost much on their own. Together they cost roughly $25 a bag. We delivered $1,000 worth of Joy Packages on Tuesday.
The child life specialist who unpacked the cart with us this week told us that an infusion-day Joy Package, given at the start of a treatment session, often becomes the thing a child reaches for the next time they come in. That sensory ball lives in their bag. That sticker pack ends up on the side of the IV pole. The Play-Doh comes back with a new shape pressed into it.
That is what Joy Packages are. They are not gifts. They are not extras. They are the tools a child uses to get through a hard day in a chair.
Forty bags this week. Year to date, we are over 4,000.
Thank you to the families who let us in this week. Thank you to the team at Advocate. We will be back next month.
Dina
Mom of Max | Founder, Maxwell’s Toy Shoppe
Childhood Cancer Advocate 💛
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