This year I have chosen to accomplish my Henrik Lundqvist Foundation service project doing something I find a great passion in. I called my fundraiser “Care for Cancer”, collecting items to create care packages for children struggling with cancer. Focusing on enhancing comfort and giving them willingness to come into the hospital. This is where I gave them something to occupy themselves and their mind with, while they are going through a very hard time in their lives.
Therefore these last couple of months I have dedicated my time to networking, collecting donations, and spreading the word about my fundraiser. Over the past couple of months I have collected donations throughout my church, old middle school, and high school. Within receiving these donations I was fortunate enough to find the Valerie Fund, and connect with their executive director Barry Kirschner about donating my received items.
The Valerie Fund is a well established nonprofit organization based in Maplewood, New Jersey, The Fund is dedicated to supporting children with blood cancer and blood disorders and these patients’ families. The Fund was founded in 1976 by Ed and Sue Goldstein in memory of their nine year old daughter Valerie, who passed away from cancer. They created this fund after facing the hardship of long commutes for pediatric cancer care and wanted to make high quality care available closer to home.
The Valerie Fund follows a mission to provide comprehensive support to not only the medical needs of children with cancer and blood disorders, but as well as their emotional, social, and developmental wellbeing. Their philosophy is that healing involves care for the whole family, not just the illness itself. This is something that I perceived as a great opportunity for myself, as their mission aligns with my goals.
Initially I followed a goal of providing as much support and comfort to these individuals, I wanted to focus on enhancing and adapting to their circumstances to the best of my abilities. In order to do this I had to collect items following a genre. This genre consisted of items such as fidgets, weighted blankets, stuffed animals, reading and coloring books, and slippers.
In total I was able to collect 200+ items which helped me create 42 baskets. Not only was this something that met my goals but exceeded them, by offering children moments of joy and relief during difficult periods of their lives.
Written By HLFYA Aidan Schulenburg
