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.

A BIG and Exciting Challenge!

Okay so I got some terrific news today!  I connected recently with a camp I volunteered with while I was in college known as Special Days Camp.  It's based in Michigan and was closely connected to Mott Children's Hospital at the University of Michigan.  It is a camp for kids who have or have had cancer and their siblings.  They have a summer program and a winter program; I was fortunate enough to have been a part of both camps numerous times.  I sent out an offer to Special Days to send them hats for their upcoming winter camp and they accepted.  The woman I am in contact with said they are planning on 115 kids for winter camp and she figured that I probably wouldn't be able to send them that many hats but I would like to do just that!!  So I guess by now you have figured out that they money we make from the bow sales is going to buying hats for Special Days. I would like to offer up this challenge to those of you who are supporters of this project.  Please help me in getting hats for all of the campers at this years winter camp...if you are knitting hats for Christmas maybe you could knit a couple of extras or if you see a good deal on winter hats maybe you could pick up a few for our kids.  If you indeed would like to help us with this mission, email me at tanyalg30@hotmail.com and I will send you my address.

Let me tell you a little bit about Special Days from my experiences.  Special Days is the second oldest oncology camp in the world and was started by a father of a daughter with cancer.  They have kids come from Michigan mostly but also from Chicago and Indiana; they are ages 5-18.  Special Days does 3 different programs: they have Special Days Summer Camp for kids who have or have had cancer, Special Days Partners Summer Camp for the siblings of cancer patients, and Special Days and Partners Winter Camp which includes everyone.  My first summer at Special Days was right after my grandma passed away from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.  I wasn't 100% sure I wanted to go and be around a whole camp full of people with cancer given our family's recent loss.  I was sure it was going to be so very sad...sick kids, sad stories, limited activities, etc.  Boy was I WRONG...nothing could have been further from the truth.  The kids who come to Special Days are full of spirit and energy, if they feel poorly you would never know it.  These kids are treated to some amazing adventures...hot air balloon rides, horse back riding, small plane rides, swimming, tent camping, all sorts of things.  There really is no sadness only joy and love.  That's not to say that they don't acknowledge the reality of cancer, they do have a night of remembrance for the campers who lost have  their battles but mostly that night is a celebration of the love that surrounds this camp.  The campers are just wonderful.  If they are currently on treatment there is a dedicated medical staff there 24/7 so those needs are always taken care of.  I learned how much it takes out of a parent to leave their child who is battling cancer with a camp counselor for a week but I can assure you the staff take such loving care of these special campers and partner campers.  Special Days is really a special place and I am so excited to be able to give something back to them.  Special Days gave me a great deal of healing and hope that first summer and to be able to give back is really important to me.

Soo...if you are up for the challenge to get 120 winter hats (so they have a few extras) to Special Days I'd be so grateful!!  If you are interested in helping, email me at tanyalg30@hotmail.com.

Getting Ready...

So, this month we have made a donation to Central DuPage Hospital's Cancer Center and on Friday will be making a donation to the Ronald McDonald Children's Hospital at Loyola!  Pretty excited about that!  We received a wonderful donation of hats and headbands from one of my cousins (thanks Jacquelyn) and we were interviewed for another blog - Tiny Blue Lines (thanks Chaunie).  We are also getting ready for a sale of hair bows at St. Petronille Catholic Church's Christmas Craft Fair!!  I have lost count as to the number of bows I have to sell but I'm hopeful we will be making a lot of money!  If you are in the Glen Ellyn or surrounding area please stop by and say hello!  Maybe pick up a bow or two!  The craft fair is happening November 13, 2011!  Things are going well and I hope that everyone who is reading this has a wonderfully fun Halloween!  Thanks again for all the support!

Fulfilling a Dream!

Okay I just needed to post this because I am so very excited!  I got an email back today from St. Jude's Children's Hospital with approval to add them to the list of hospital which we are donating to!  They will only accept the headbands at this time because they get a lot of hats (as I can imagine) and they have very strict guidelines for their donations (understandably)!  As a kid, I would ride in the St. Jude's Bike-A-Thons and as I got older I always thought it would be the place I would end up working.   My husband and I even made a pilgrimage there when we moved from Michigan to Texas, just because I wanted to see in person this place where miracles happen.  I'm sure you have watched the St. Jude infomercials and listened to those Stories of Hope and thought what "what would I do" hoping to never have to find out; but it does happen, as it did to my brother.  I think everything changes from that moment of diagnosis on.  I think the conception of this project started long ago, on those late nights watching those St. Jude's commercials and hoping that it never happens to anyone I love.  But it did and now we can do and are doing something to try and make the day or even just a moment a little brighter for those brave brave children.  Yep, it's a dream fulfilled for me to be able to do something for kids battling cancer.  I've heard the story that Danny Thomas (the founder of St. Jude's) prayed to St. Jude saying "show me the way and I will build you a shrine" - he listened and acted on what his heart was telling him to do.  Obviously, this project is nowhere near what he did but just as I was wondering if this project was going to continue, I get this email from St. Jude's agreeing to accept a donation from us.  Maybe I'm just being really way too mushy (and if you know me you know I'm a big no huge sap) but this is really meaningful to me and to this project.  Thank you St. Jude's for allowing us to be a part of your kids' lives! :)

Yes, we are still here!!!!

Okay, I know shame on me!!  I haven't posted anything in a while but it's been a crazy time in our home (summer fun, camping - yikes, school starting), so getting time to do much of anything else has been close to impossible!  Luke, of Luke's Lids, and his family also moved home this summer and are now closer to our family and I know that everyone is so happy about that!  Welcome home Luke and Co!

We are working right now on hats and bows, planning for a donation the beginning of October (keeping my fingers crossed that we can make that goal).  We are also going to be selling bows at a craft show, November 13 at St. Petronille Catholic Church here in Glen Ellyn, so if you are around here please please please come by and tell your friends to come by!!  To be frank, we really need to make some money to keep this project going! There are some super cute Kofi hats that I want to purchase for the winter months but they are expensive and in order to be able to buy them I need to sell A LOT of bows!  I did get a wonderful donation from Diane Lucas of beautiful hats for this project!  They are so soft and comfy, I know our kids are going to LOVE them!  Thank You Thank You Thank You!!!!

There is so much that I would like to do for this fall and winter season!!  I have seen some adorable ribbon for Halloween and Christmas, as well as collegiate ribbon that I would love to buy but the ribbon is quite expensive so I am hoping to sell out our bows at the craft show in November!!!  I was thinking it might help if I could find a local store that might be willing to sell our bows during the year so if anyone knows of a store that might be willing to help please contact me (tanyalg30@hotmail.com)!!   Until I file for 501(c)3 status we are funding this project on our own and really need to find some different ways to keep going and growing!!  If you have any ideas I am all ears!!  Any and all help is so welcome and appreciated!!!

I hate asking for help so this is all really hard for me to write but in order to keep this project alive I need you!!!  I need people to help me brainstorm ideas, make bows and hats, and deliver them to as many kids as we possibly can!  I'm hoping to connect with St. Jude's in the next couple of weeks about starting a partnership with them as well and I'm pretty excited about that.  I am just so grateful for all the help that we have received thus far...especially from my sister who is my partner in all this.  Kimi you are such an inspiration to me and I am so proud to be doing this project with you!!!  Thank You Thank You Thank You and I Love You!!

Have a blessed day everyone and thanks for taking the time to read!!!!