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!
Luke's Lids for Kids
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Saturday, September 8, 2012
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
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
Sunday, July 22, 2012
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!
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!
Monday, June 25, 2012
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!
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!
Thursday, April 12, 2012
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
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
Thursday, March 1, 2012
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.
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.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
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.
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.
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