If I wasn't a blogger I would never have experienced the powerful community that is mom bloggers. I feel so honored to be able to share in a group of women that supports and encourages each other. With that said, did you know September is Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month?
If you answered "no" don't feel bad because I didn't either until a couple of weeks ago when I received an email from Brittany. Whom I didn't even know until said email arrived in my inbox. But when I read her words I couldn't help but feel that she had bestowed a gift to me. Here are Brittany's own words:
Some of you know me and some of you don't - I'm Brittany and I blog at Just Another Day in Paradise sometimes when I get my act together :)
I just took all the emails of blogger folks that also participated in the Summer Birthday Exchange that Liz hosted (plus I added a few folks!), so if you aren't interested at all in doing this - do not feel bad about deleting this.
Here's the deal - if you don't know, September is Pediatric Cancer Awareness month. Our next door neighbors lost their little boy, Noah, last June to pediatric cancer - but before he went to heaven, he sure left his mark on the world by starting something called Noah's Bandage Project. Quick background: at the young age of 6, while going through his own treatment, he quickly realized how un-cool it was to just have the boring skin colored bandages all over his body with all the pricks and pokes that comes with treatment for pediatric cancer. If he felt that way, he knew other kids did too. He started a drive to collect fun bandaids (that all our kids love) and distributed them to other kids at Children's Mercy Hospital in downtown KC. What started as a small drive, turned into something much bigger. The KC Royal's got involved, the KC news, etc. Noah passed away in June 2015, but his family and friends are working hard to ensure this amazing project lives on.
So - why am I sending you this email? Well every day when I pull in and out of our driveway, I pass our neighbors house (as you would guess). This month they have a sign in their yard for Pediatric Cancer Awareness month. There are countless cars at their house working on this project and have been hosting all kinds of events around the KC area to ensure it continues to grow. Deb (my neighbor, who is Noah's mom) said she is even having to talk to local stores about increasing their inventory of the fun bandages because so many schools are hosting bandage drives that they are running out - how amazing is that!!? I just feel the urge to do something to help with their amazing efforts to carry on Noah's legacy.
Ok - onto the point. I'm sure all our kids love fun bandaids (heck my 2 older kids each had 2 somewhere on them tonight in the bath...), so I was thinking it would be fun to find a time this month while at the store with your kid (or kids) to pick up a few boxes of bandaids for these kids suffering from pediatric cancer to brighten up their day. I know as my kids get older, I'm really loving finding ways to incorporate how we can help others and teach them the joy in giving back. I thought how cool it would be if some folks in the blogging community wanted to join in and send a few boxes to Noah's Bandage Project and do a quick post on it to build awareness not only of this amazing project....but also for pediatric cancer. The thing that I found baffling when talking with Deb as I was writing a post about this for the Kansas City Mom's blog was that so little (only 4%!!!!) of the national cancer research budget goes to researching pediatric cancer. Noah's Bandage Project is working to increase that number as well.
I mean how can you not feel compelled to help out such an amazing endeavor?!
After I told Kinsey about going to Target to pick out some bandaids for children with cancer she promptly said she wanted to get "Princesses for the girls and Snoopy for the boys." And that's exactly what she did (plus a couple more.)
It broke my heart explaining to Kinsey about children having cancer so I can't even imagine living through it. I pray over Noah's Bandage Project and the families who are going through treatment. God keep them in Your almighty hands.
If you want to contribute bandages or funds visit Noah's bandage Project or send them to the following address:
119 N Parker Street Suite 110
Olathe, KS 66061
I love that Kinsey immediately knew what she wanted to send. Sweet girl! It broke my heart to explain this to Cam. This isn't something any parent or family should have to go through. I pray we never do, but love that we can do something, even though it's a small thing, to help keep Noah's memory alive.
ReplyDeleteWonderful endeavour! Pediatric cancer is such a heartbreaking thing.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't sure how to explain it to Noah either... Not an easy topic. But Noah enjoyed picking out the bandaids too. He was very specific which ones he wanted too.
ReplyDeleteI love that you guys did this post. Such a great reminder.
ReplyDeleteI love this project and how the blog community is taking the time to share Noah's story. While the outcome was a sad one, it's comforting to know that there are people still sharing his story and fighting his fight.
ReplyDeleteOh Whitney, what a wonderful thing And what a precious little girly you are raising that wants to help as well! Friends of ours have been touched by pediatric cancer and I cannot tell you what a fantastic project this is!
ReplyDeleteThis is such a great cause and something I am definitely interested in participating in. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI tried explaining the project to my boys but making it 2- and 4-year old appropriate, and yes it's heartbreaking! I love that we can do such a simple thing to help the legacy of Noah live on!
ReplyDeleteWe couldn't get our bandaids in the mail fast enough.
ReplyDeleteNoah's story brought me to tears, but goodness, what an amazing little boy! He did so much during his time here. It's been pretty awesome to see so many bloggers help out this great cause.
Such a great idea and a neat way to honor Noah!
ReplyDeleteChildhood cancer tears my heart to shreds! This is such an amazing project. All of those little things matter! Adorable pictures of your sweet girl!
ReplyDeleteDid you watch the video that Brittany shared? I literally bawled my eyes out watching it. I can't believe what a strong, positive boy he was. I'm so glad we were able to partake in this and send bandaids to kids fighting for their lives and to be able to help Noah's legacy live on.
ReplyDelete