Delivery Day!
This morning we delivered 550 Happy Kits to Children's Mercy Hospital Adele Campus. These kits were purchased and packaged by KindCraft families. This was KindCraft's March service project that we offered to families so that they could still give back during the pandemic.
What is a Happy Kit?
A Happy Kit is a ziplock bag filled with items that can help keep a sick child or their caregiver busy during a stressful time. Kits are used in a variety of areas throughout the hospital and clinics to make patients and families feel welcome and happy during their visit with us. There are four types of kits: Pre-K/Kindergarten, School Age, Teen and Caregiver, and Greeting Cards. Below, you can find all the details about each kit. We hope you are inclined to make your own kit(s) and included this information to make it easy for you to do so!
Pre-K/Kindergarten Happy Kits
Supply List (Ages 2-6)
1 gallon sized sealable bag
1 sheet of girl/boy themed stickers
1 pack of Crayola brand crayons
1 small new board book for age 2-3yr OR 1 small book for ages 4-6
1 Coloring Book (age appropriate)
1 Hot Wheel car (optional)
Considerations Stickers or themes that work well for this kit include: shapes, cars/trucks, Disney characters, science & nature, and farm animals.
School-Age Happy Kits
Supply List (Ages 7-12)
1 gallon sized sealable bag
1 Coloring Book (age appropriate)
1 pack of Crayola brand crayons
Card game (Go Fish, Crazy 8’s, Uno, etc.)
1 small new book OR one of the magazines listed below:
Sports Illustrated Kids
Highlights
National Geographic Kids
American Girl
Discovery Girls
Kids Discover
National Geographic Little Kids
Girls Life
Bubbles (optional) must be individual bottles (recommended 4 oz or smaller) and say non-toxic on the label
Teen & Caregiver Happy Kits
Supply List (Ages 13 & Up)
1 gallon sized sealable bag
Adult coloring book, coloring book pages, word search or crossword
1 package of colored pencils
Card game (Phase 10, UNO, Skip Bo, etc.)
Writing journal
Greeting Card Happy Kits
These Happy Kits are filled with supplies to help patients make their own cards for others, i.e. parents, siblings, or nurses.
1 gallon sized sealable bag
Paper and writing utensil to create custom cards
Age appropriate coloring book
If possible, please include markers, stickers and other craft supplies for card making
Deliver your donation to:
Children’s Mercy, Volunteer & Guest Services Office
2401 Gillham Road
Kansas City, MO
64108
For more details directly from Children's Mercy Hospital, please visit: https://www.childrensmercy.org/ways-to-give/volunteer-at-the-hospital/happy-kits/
Who packed these Happy Kits?
KindCraft families packed 550 Happy Kits! We had 94 families register for the event and were blown away by their generosity. Here is what KindCrafters had to say about this service project:
“We loved talking about this project and choosing items for each of their bags! Thanks for the great pandemic service project."
"Thank you for the great teachable moment and way to help even in a pandemic!”
"Adelle has gotten these a few times she has been in. So so appreciated!"
"We had so much fun finding things to fill bags for the kiddos!"
"Sitting here at CMH and just saw one of these kits being handed to a very nervous little patient. It made her day!"
"I’m a nurse at Children’s and I have passed these kits out to countless kids while they are waiting to go to surgery. It is a great distraction for them and they love that they get to take them home!!!!"
"Liam received his happy kit when he went in for stitches and it made him feel so good to be able to make one to give back. Same for Coen when he got staples!!"
"My son was a recipient of one of these bags, recently and it was a really nice surprise! Thank you all for doing this."
Delivery Pics!
Just a sample of the hundreds of kits put together. Families reported spending anywhere from $5 to $25 per kit.
Children's Mercy Junior Champions
Please consider checking out Children's Mercy Junior Champions program. When your child donates to the hospital, they have the opportunity to participate in the Junior Champions charm program. This program recognizes their generosity and provides positive reinforcement for their act of kindness. They will also receive a Children’s Mercy Junior Champions keychain with their first donation so they can collect and display their charms and show them to friends and family.
Check out all the details here: https://www.childrensmercy.org/ways-to-give/donate-goods/junior-champions/
Are you a recipient of a Happy Kit from Children's Mercy? If so, we would LOVE to hear your story! Please email us at courtney@kindcraft.org.