A New Year at Luke's Lids!

Happy Almost New Year!  Farewell 2012, thanks for the memories, challenges, losses, and joys as each was a lesson learned (hopefully!).  Hopefully, those who were a recipient of a Luke's Lids for Kids hat or headband were able to feel the love that went along with it!

I'm proud to say that Luke's Lids did very well this year!  We accomplished the following:
Special Days Winter Camp Hat Donation
Four donation drops to Central DuPage Hospital Cancer Center and the Ronald McDonald Children's Hospital at Loyola University Medical Center
Special Days Summer Camps (both Special Days and Partners Camps) Hat Donations
Individual Hat Donations to 15 Special Warriors via Facebook Connections
Donated headbands as an action item for Aidan's Army Fundraiser for Lurie Children's Hospital
Participated in 2 craft shows raising money to continue this project
Connected with 2 fantastic knitters who are crucial in making the project successful and also connected with a young man who gave up birthday presents in favor of collecting hats for kids with cancer!

Yep, I think that is a pretty successful list for a small project like Luke's Lids.  It's nice to see these hats and headbands made with such love going out and hopefully spreading a little joy and laughter along the way.  I remember when my brother Luke was sick, all I could do was pray that each day he would be a little better and find a reason to laugh.  That's really the whole purpose for this project, it's finding ways to be an instrument of love.  Mother Therese says "do not do great things but do small things with great love" and I think that is what we all do in our daily lives.  Most of us are not millionaires who can give millions to causes we believe in but I think most of us are always looking for ways to make our part of the world a little better so we do what we can with all the love in our hearts.  I have such wonderful examples around me too!  While we were growing up my mom worked in Adult Foster Care homes with individuals who had mental illnesses or developmental disabilities and she often brought her residents to our farm for holidays so they would have a loving family to spend them with.  My dad is a REGULAR at the American Red Cross donating blood and platelets (I'm pretty sure they have his cell on speed dial)!  My dad's mom was a teacher and then a volunteer paramedic during her amazing life and was honored as the American Red Cross Volunteer of the Year a few months before she lost her battle with non-Hodgkin's Disease.  My mom's mom has spent her life caring for her family, especially for my Grandpa who had Multiple Sclerosis but never spent a day in a nursing home.  She devoted herself to him because of how much she loved him, pure selfless love, the face of God kind of love.  I have 1 sibling who is in the Coast Guard (Joel) and 1 who is a Veteran of the Coast Guard (Kim).  One sibling who is a teacher (Lance), one who is an officer of the court (Luke), one who is the most loving and patient father of 4 (Paul), and one who is there for any of us at any time, day or night (Andrew).  This is a testament to how we were raised, to give what we can, whatever that is, with love. It's not the act that matters, its what the motivation is and the love with which it is given.  I hope this is the lesson my children are learning and it's thanks to my amazing husband for believing in the project and supporting the kids who are its recipients.

There are so many people who help make this project possible and it is from the bottom of my heart that I thank you!  My knitters, my bow makers, my sister for her creativity, Luke for being an inspiration, my kids for being hat makers, my husband for being the best Chief Financial Officer while I retain the Chief Executive Officer title (haha), my family for being such an amazing inspiration, and all the kids who have to go through this wretched awful disease please know we do this for you and we pray for you and we surely do LOVE you!

Much love to you all and I hope that 2013 is the best year yet!  God Bless!

One last call to action, Special Days Winter Camp is coming up, last weekend in January so I'm sending out the call for hats!  They are expecting approximately 110 campers so that's 110 hats needed.  Anyone who wishes to help, I would be most grateful.  You can contact me tanyalg30@hotmail.com.  Thanks!

Thanks and Giving

First of all, Happy Thanksgiving!  I'm blessed for each of you who read this blog and share in Luke's Lids mission to hopefully bring a small measure of happiness to a child fighting cancer by way of helping him or her feel fabulous in their appearance!  It has been an honor to work with the following hospitals: Mott Children's Hospital at the University of Michigan Health Systems, Hurley Medical Center, the Ronald McDonald Hospital at Loyola University Medical Center, the Central DuPage Cancer Center, and St. Jude's Research Hospital.  We have also been blessed to be able to partner with Special Days Camps, both summer and winter programs.  Recently, we have also started connecting with families via Facebook and sending hats and headbands to individual children as well.  The personal letters and cards that we have received after sending out our hats absolutely feel like little hugs!  Thank you to all!!

I have to say Thank You to two very important women who have been such a godsend in helping us to reach our hat goals every time...Diane Klauka Lucas and Jeannie Martinez!  Without your incredible knitting abilities and generosity, there is no way we would be able to send out the number of hats that we do!!  You are both such a blessing!

I have to also say Thank You to everyone who has helped us with  our financial funding this year through donations and purchases at the craft shows we have participated in.  Every single dollar donated is put right back into this project and every bow purchased is a bow with a cause!  Hopefully you wear them proudly!

Big huge Thank You to my husband who is the primary investor in this project!  I'm am ever so grateful that he believes in this project as much as I do and doesn't mind having his former "man cave" now the epicenter for all things pink, floral, and sparkly!  This is saying a lot given the fact we have two boys and the other 99% of our house is full of all things on wheels and rails!

So in short, I give Thanks for all of you and all that you do which allows Luke's Lids to continue Giving handmade love to these incredible children!  For them and their families we wish you a most blessed Thanksgiving and start of the holiday season.  I know that for some families (too many really) this will be a first Thanksgiving without their children and to you, I pray you know, we will be praying for you to find a measure of joy in your heart during this season of hope.  God Bless You All!

What's Going On!?!

Well, geez it's already September!  Where in the world did the summer go?  I have no idea!  My son, JOnah is back in school, the weather is a little bit cooler, and Michigan Football is back on television!  Go BLUE!

The summer was good for Luke's Lids for Kids!  We managed to get out 169 hats to the campers at Special Days and word has it that the kids really enjoyed them!  Also have started sending out hats to kids whose battles against cancer I have learned about via Facebook.  The parents who start a Facebook page for their children, in an effort to get more people to pray for their child, are so brave.  It takes a lot of strength to let people into your world when you are going through something like pediatric cancer in your family.  I'm a mom and from following these stories of children who battle cancer, I have been reminded to not "sweat the small stuff" but to revel in the small stuff because tomorrow is never guaranteed to any of us.  To be a parent of a child with a terminal illness is to be a warrior yourself, I do believe: their children fight the battle but the parents are making gut wrenching life and death decisions every day.  My heart goes out to these families and I pray for them nightly.  God Bless you moms and dads and God Bless your babies!

As for Luke's Lids for Kids, I have a plan in my head for the next few months.  I have a few kids from Facebook who I want to send hats out to and I would like to make a hat drop to our local pediatric oncology centers next month.  I am hoping to do a few craft shows this fall and hopefully will be starting with Beads, Baubles, and Accessories at Cantigny Park here in Wheaton, IL in November.  I will be selling bows but am hoping to brainstorm some other jewelry item I could also make and sell (if anyone has any ideas I'm listening).  I would like to do a holiday drop in December to local oncology centers and then Special Days in January again.  I feel like this is an ambitious outline but I think we can do it!!  September is Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month so let's show these brave children that we care and we can do something (however small) to make their days just a little bit brighter!

As always, God Bless You for reading this and supporting this project.  If you have any thoughts about the craft fairs or know of a child who might like a hat please contact me at tanyalg30@hotmail.com.  xoxoxo

Off to Summer Camp!

I just wanted to take a quick minute to say THANKS!  Thanks so all those who were so generous in helping us ship 169 hats to the summer camps of Special Days!  Specifically, thank you to my parents for helping me with the bow sale at the 4th of July Celebrations in North Branch, lugging around all my stuff and sponsoring my sale table (in addition to all that was happening that week in the Gyomory household...that's a whole other blog post!)  Thanks to all the North Branchers who stopped by to browse and purchase the bows!  Thank you to Diane Klauka Lucas for her beautiful hand-knitted hats, all 74 of them!  Thank you to her mom for shipping many of them out to me.  Thank you to my Grandma Schaller and my cousin Jacquelyn Kippenbrock of J&J Brusie Photograph for their generous donations!  Thank you to my dear friend Tina Koral for bringing me over a bunch of adorable hats to decorate!  

I'm so grateful to everyone for their help getting the hats out to Special Days.  Special Days has a special place in my heart and so to be able to give back to them is really meaningful for me.  If you are ever interested or know of someone (especially college age kids) who might be interested in volunteering as a camp counselor I can promise you that Special Days is well worth looking in to.  Amazing campers and amazing staff, Special Days changed my life for sure!


Next up, back to school drop off.  Going to start working on getting hats and headbands ready to drop off at the hospitals around the time kids get back into school.  Hopefully, I will also be able to do a few craft shows this fall and sell a few bows.  


Enjoy the rest of this hot hot summer and God Bless You!

4th of July Festivities...On the Farm!

It's fitting that this year's theme for the North Branch 4th of July festivities is "On the Farm" since we, the Gyomory's, grew up on a farm.  It's on the farm where I will be with my two boys this 4th of July, leaving my poor husband to fend for himself this year since the 4th unfortunately falls mid-week, ugh...!  Anyways, Luke's Lids will hopefully be out in full force this 4th of July but I need some help, desperately!  I'm looking for a place in town to set up a table during the children's events and the 4th of July parade.  I tried to contact the coordinator of the North Branch events but never heard back from her, soo....if you, my dear supporters happen to have a friend or yourself, own a business in town, might you be willing to help me out!  I would love to be able to set up a table in front of a business during all the events to try and sell some bows and I'm thinking about doing "Sponsor A Bow" to help off set the cost of purchasing 200+ hats for Special Days Summer Camp.  If you know of a business where I might be able to do this, please contact me, tanyalg30@hotmail.com!!!!

I'm also hoping Luke's Lids is going to have a float in the parade which would be so special!  North Branchers support their own and I know a float would have a big impact on the number of supporters we have, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed it works out!

I am in full force bow making mode, trying to get all the hats ready to send out to Special Days for camp at the end of July.  My fingers are blistered from hot glue burns but it's so much fun!  I don't know about you but crafting is kind of like mediating for me!

I'm not sure how many people are still following this project, but for those that do, know I am so grateful for the support.  This project means a lot to me and although I haven't been able to do as much this year, I still feel like what we have been able to do does make a small difference in the lives of those special children fighting cancer.  I have started following a lot of prayer pages on Facebook started by parents of children with cancer and I cannot imagine how trying this disease is on a family.  I wish there was so much more I could do and if I had the means I would, but I don't and so I hope that this project helps to bring a small smile to a child who should be home playing in mud puddles but instead is trying to weather the effects of chemotherapy.  It's so unfair but I pray that these children and their families know how loved they are and how hard we pray for their healing.  Thanks again for reading and being a part of this project with me.  God Bless You!

Another Challenge for Special Days

I am happy to report that last week, we made three donations in a day!  A bag of hats went out to the Ronald McDonald Children's Hospital at Loyola Medical Center, a bag of hats went out to the Cancer Center at Central DuPage Hospital, and box full of hats were mailed out to the Hurley Foundation at Hurley Medical Center.  I think there were about 100 hats and headbands that went out in those packages!

I have an email out to an organization called Jessie Rees Foundation to participate in a program she started called JoyJars, http://www.jessie.org/joyjars/.  This is an organization started by a young woman named Jessie Rees who lost her battle with cancer but has a wonderful legacy living on in her foundation and motto for living "Never Ever Give Up or NEGU".  I am hoping to be able to send out some hats and headbands for them to add to the JoyJars which then get sent out to courage young patients around America.  I am working on getting approval from the board of directors at this time.

I am also working towards being able to send hats to Special Days again, this will mean about 220 total.  I'm thinking about doing bucket hats and bandannas.  Since the kids are outside pretty much all the time during summer camp, I don't want to send headbands, as these are kids who are going through chemotherapy and some may not have hair.  Part of the challenge is creating headware that is both functional but trendy!  I'm open to any and all ideas!!  If you are interested in helping me meet this challenge, I would LOVE to hear from you!

Anyways, hope this Easter was a blessed and joyous one for you all!.  And I hope that this early warm spring is bringing loads of sunshine to your days!!  Thank you again for reading and helping us to keep this project going!!  xoxoxoxo

Hello Out There!!!

I have to apologize for not having posted in quite a few months!  With the holidays, things got to be kind of busy (as they are for us all) and now I have a very busy 18 month old so finding alone time to type has been something of a challenge!  So let me catch y'all up to speed...over the holidays we participated in a craft fair selling some of our bows and we started an Etsy account to sell bows.  I'm trying to get this project to be a little more self-sufficient! :)

In January we were also able to make a donation of hats to Special Days Camp, 122 exactly and I would like to thank all who helped to make that possible.  I received the most heart warming responses from Special Days about the hats, both about how beautiful they were and how much the kids enjoyed receiving them.  They are going to send pictures when they become available, so hopefully I will be able to post some on this blog and on our Facebook  page.  I have offered to supply Special Days with a donation of hats and headbands for their summer camp in July, I'm hoping to make that goal.  We will need to supply them with approximately 220, I think we can do it!

I am hoping to make a couple of hospital donations this month and am hoping to get some help with making the hats and headbands!  If anyone is interested in spending an evening being creative, please give me a call, I would love the company!  Thank you to all who continue to give this project their support.  I feel so bad that I haven't been able to do to much recently but I am always thinking about the kids who receive our hats and pray for their recovery.

Thanks again for all the support and love!  If you know of anyone who might enjoy receiving a hat or headband, please contact me at tanyalg30@hotmail.com or via our Facebook page.