Another Update from One of our Volunteers

LeeAnn McKinney of Florida is in the middle of a move to a new home. She has asked that no more cards be sent to her until her move is completed mid-January. I will post her new address when she is ready to receive more cards. Thanks!

**Edited to add: LeeAnn did get moved but she is much farther from her hospitals now. She will get cards delivered when she can, but has enough cards for now.**

It is time to start making Valentines for all our kids. Then next we will be looking for spring and Easter cards believe it or not. We are always thinking ahead here at SAS4Kids:) But we can always use any day cheery cards and thank you cards. And keep our older boys and girls in mind when designing cards too.

Wishing you all a happy holiday season and a blessed new year!

Thanks for the smiles 4 our kids, Karen

Update for Nationwide Children's

Hi, everyone! Sybrina here with a status update for Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

It's been a busy week for our mail carrier. He's delivered three boxes of cards -- nearly 450 cards -- already this week... And to think it's just Wednesday! It is so heartwarming to receive these amazing works of heart that have been made with so much love for our kids.

Adding these most recent deliveries to the cards that I had already received, I now have plenty of holiday cards for this year's Christmas shipment. If you have sent cards my way in the last day or so, rest assured that I will squeeze a few extra in my box or pack them away for next year.  :)

Thank you so much for your support of SAS4Kids. Your kindnesses bring huge smiles to lots of little faces.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving celebration with loved ones, family, and friends.

Special Request from our Volunteer Anne Slattery

Karen here and I received the email below from Anne. If you can help the Neonatal Unit out, please send Anne an email to coordinate your gift. And Thanks!!

I have a special request from St. Christopher's Hospital Philadelphia from the Neonatal Unit for baby themed cards. They would like images like rattles, bottles, tugboats, pacifiers, bows, strollers, etc. Probably all the cute little critter stamps that are popular now would be good also. They are requesting 50 cards to begin with. If any of our wonderful card makers can help me out with this it would be greatly appreciated. I just request that they email me first (aslatz@verizon.net) to let me know how many and what time frame I could have them as I don't want to be overwhelmed with baby themed cards.

Special Request from Our Illinois Volunteer

Janet Bailey here, your volunteer from Illinois. I have a special request for our kids from one of my hospitals that has 137 beds. Streamwood has requested cards with NO embellishments.  No popups, sequins, gems, buttons, ribbons, or anything that might be pulled off and swallowed.  Glitter glue is ok as long as it's non toxic.  Layers are fine, but everything needs to be flat.  When they first made this request, I thought it would be hard, but I pulled out a number of these cards from what I have on hand and they're beautiful!  I don't need all my cards this way, but I need quite a few since this hospital is so large!

(Edited to Add: Janet can use many more cards than the other locations as she has three large hospitals with many kids. So if you like to make lots and lots of cards, please send to Janet's address. The other new locations are happy to receive your cards as well.)

I am definitely ready for more Fall & Thanksgiving cards so if you have any already made, please ship them to me!   Plus all our hospitals are looking for Christmas and Winter themed cards. Remember that at Christmas and all major holidays, we like to have enough cards for the kids to all receive one, and to share with their parents,siblings and medical staff.  If there is enough, they could also send a holiday card to loved ones they are missing. So please while making these cards for our kids, make some that are without embellishments for these special kids at Streamwood. 

We appropriate every one of our card makers no matter how many cards you send!  Thank you for your dedication to our kids! 

Janet Bailey

11722 Parkway Dr

Apt 6

Roscoe  IL  61073 

SAS4Kids Is Continuing to GROW!

I am so excited to share that another volunteer and children's hospital is being announced today! Anne Slattery has stepped up and is going to be accepting your boxes of handmade cards to share with the children at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children (Philadelphia). This is what Anne had to say about the hospital:

Name of Hospital: St. Christopher's Hospital for Children (Philadelphia)
They have about 120 kids 3-6 year olds about 30; 7-12 year olds about 40 and they have a lot of teens age 13+ about 50.
They are looking to get started ASAP. I will send her what I have right now which is only about 20 cards. She said that would be fine because she thinks this is going to go over big.

Anne's address is:
Anne Slattery 
1504 Morris St.
Bristol PA 19007

Please note the "lots of teens" part of the description above. Cards appropriate for teenagers are what we generally receive the least of, so keep them in mind when designing your cards. Anne will need every day cheer cards, some birthday and thank you cards, and lots of winter holiday cards so each child can receive one and also pick some out for loved ones they are missing while in the hospital over the holidays.

Please send your cards equally to the two newest addresses (see blogpost below.) We appreciate all the handmade cards received from you for our SAS4Kids kids!

Thank you Anne and Angie!!

Stamping smiles 4 our kids, Karen 

Yeah- Another Hospital Full of Kids to Cheer!

We are happy to announce another volunteer has stepped up and will be accepting your handmade cards for kids in another children's hospital! Angie Murphy (see her smiling face on the side of the blog) has graciously volunteered her time and energy to receive your boxes of cards, sort and deliver them to kids in the nearby Children's of Alabama children's hospital! Here is Angie's address that you can start sending cards to right away:

Angie Murphy
250 Gablewood Drive
Montevallo, AL 35115-8936

We have been contacted by several other potential volunteers who are now in the process of asking local children's hospitals if they would like to receive your handmade cards. Some hosptials have restrictions against accepting anything from outside volunteers, so we can never just assume a particular hospital will be a good fit for SAS4Kids. But most are thrilled to accept your cards to cheer the kids and their families. So we are hoping to be announcing some more new volunteers and hospitals soon.

If you have a box of Halloween/Fall cards ready to go, it would be OK to send to Angie or the other active addresses listed here (except Sybrina.) But if not, your next box can definitely include holiday and Christmas cards so every child in our hospitals receives one and is able to choose some for family and friends they are missing that time of your.

Thanks Angie for volunteering! And thanks to all of you who make and send in your cards for our kids!

Stamping smiles 4 our kids, Karen

Update on Current Needs - Can you Volunteer?

What we really need is more volunteers and more hospitals full of kids to cheer with all the wonderful cards we are receiving! Most of our locations have been overwhelmed with the generous card donations they have been receiving. We are assuming many former OWH cardmakers are looking for a new charitable organization to send their cards to. But to be honest, we do not have the need for the numbers of cards that were being sent for our servicemen and women overseas by the OWH organization.

**If you live close to a children's hospital (or two) and would be willing to accept boxes of cards sent to your address, label and count them and then bring to the hospital(s) every so often, please send me an email via the contact button on the side of the blog.**

In the meantime, Sybrina has enough cards to last into November. At that time, you could send some Christmas and Winter cards her way. Lee Ann is happy to accept any cards you can send to her address, and this time of year would be needing fall and winter holiday cards. Janet is set for awhile too, but would like Christmas cards early so she can get boxes sent to all her hospitals. If you can, Janet could use help with her mailing expenses- those boxes are quite expensive to mail.

Of course, none of us will discard or turn away any cards received. If the cards are received too late or too many are received for a particular holiday or category, we will save for the next year or box. Both I and NanaConnie have small hospitals and have enough cards for quite a while already at our locations.

Thank you all for your generous support. We hope to announce many more children's hospitals full of kids we can cheer because we sure do not want to turn any of your wonderful cards away.

Sincerely, Karen SAS4Kids

Welcome to Three New Hospitals, One New Volunteer and OWH-ers Everywhere!

We are very happy and excited to announce we have a new volunteer who will be collecting and distributing your cards to the children in Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, OH. Welcome Sybrina King! You can see her smiling face over there on the right and if you click on her picture, you will go to her new blog celebrating her new life in retirement. Here is the newest address you can send your handmade cards to:

SAS4Kids, c/o Sybrina King
11600 Huntington Way NW
Pickerington, OH 43147

We have more exciting news to announce! Janet Kay Bailey, our Illinois volunteer, has also added two more hospitals full of special kids who will receive your cards. The new facilities are Clearbrook in Arlington Heights, IL. and Streamwood Behavorial Healthcare System in Streamwood, IL. Janet and her family have a close connection to both of these facilities and your cards will help cheer kids with special needs in both of these facilities. How great is that?

Here is a reminder of Janet's address:

SAS4Kids c/o Janet Kay Bailey
11722 Parkway Drive Apt 6
Roscoe, IL 61073

I also wanted to extend a special welcome to all the card makers who have contacted us after Operation Write Home announced they were closing down. We are happy you have found us and our kids are going to love receiving your donated cards!

Can't believe summer is almost over! It is time to start making fall and winter holiday cards so all the kids in the 15 hospitals we now serve will receive one of each, and can also pick out some to send to special people they are missing on those holidays. We can always use thank you cards and some birthday cards and any day cheerful cards as well.

Thanks to all of you for your handmade cards and support.

Sending smiles 4 our kids, Karen

Two More Hospitals Full of Kids to Send a Smile To!

Send a Smile 4 Kids is growing again! I am very happy to announce that we have a new volunteer and two new children's hospitals in Florida to send your cards to! LeeAnn McKinney is now accepting cards for the children who are inpatient in Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital, Hollywood, FL and Golisano Children's Hospital of SW Florida, Fort Myers, Fl.

That brings the total number of hospitals we serve to 14!

We are grateful to LeeAnn for volunteering to accept your cards and distribute them to these two new hospitals. Both hospitals are affiliated with Ronald McDonald Houses so the children's families can stay close by and may use the cards we send too.

Here is the new address to send your cards to:

LeeAnn McKinney
128 Taft Blvd.
Clewiston, FL 33440

Currently, please send most of your cards to LeeAnn's address to give her a great start, or to Janet's address in Illinois. The other locations have enough cards for the time being. It is never too early to start making fall and winter holiday cards so that all the children in all the hospitals will receive one and also be able to pick out some to give or send to family and friends they are missing if inpatient on those holidays. All locations will have a need for holiday cards.

**Please include your name and email address in your boxes of cards so any of the volunteers who receive them can email our thanks and acknowledgement of the receipt of your box.**

Thanks to LeeAnn for volunteering and thank to all of you who send in your handmade cards to cheer the kids in the 14 hospitals we now serve!

Stamping smiles 4 Kids, Karen

YEA- SAS4Kids now has 12 Children's Hospitals for Your Cards!

2015 is going to be a great year at SAS4Kids! I am excited to share with you that we have just added another volunteer who will be collecting your cards for three more children’s hospitals!  That brings the total of hospitals we serve up to 12! The new hospitals are in California and our new volunteer is NanaConnie. Many of you will know the name as she is on many design teams and has been in our top three several times with her gorgeous cards. NanaConnie has graciously volunteered to receive your boxes of cards, sort and label them and bring to three children’s hospitals close to her home in California. 

Here is the California address to send your cards to: NanaConnie Chapman, P.O. Box 80083, Bakersfield CA 93380.

Our other new location is in Illinois. Janet Bailey's address is: 11722 Parkway Dr. Apt. 6, Roscoe, IL 61073.

For the time being, please send all your boxes of cards equally to Janet Bailey’s address and to NanaConnie’s address so they can build up a supply and start bringing boxes to their kids in the new hospitals. Of course, we will accept boxes at the other locations as well, but the new sites need them more than we do in Wisconsin and Iowa. (As always, if you are in Canada, contact the Canadian SAS4Kids for their current needs and addresses.)

5/21/15 ***Updated to change: NanaConnie has been overwhelmed with your wonderful support and so we are asking that you wait a few months (until August) to send her any more cards. At that time all the sites will be looking for fall and winter holiday cards. We are anticipating opening up another location soon for you to send your cards to and if you would like to volunteer to accept cards for a local children's hospital, email me via the Contact Feature on the side of the blog.***

If you have a box ready to go now, please send  to Janet's Illinois address.

Our current needs are listed in the blog post below, but we accept cards for any holiday or occasion as long as they are appropriate for kids and follow our guidelines under the tab above.

Please join me in welcoming both Janet and NanaConnie and thanking them for helping us cheer more kids and their families. They are waiting for your boxes and cards, so can you make and send some cards to them soon?

Stamping smiles 4 our kids, Karen 

It's a New Year at SAS4Kids and We are Cheering More Kids!

I am so happy to announce that we have signed on a new volunteer who will be accepting your cards for the kids who are inpatient at Children's Hospital of Illinois. Janet Bailey has volunteered to accept your homemade cards and deliver them to the kids at this new hospital! Here is Janet's address  where you can now start sending your cards to:

Janet Bailey
11722 Parkway Dr Apt 6
Roscoe IL 61073

Here is a wish list of cards and some info from the hospital: 

They have about 120 beds, and lots of kids from 5-12, but they also have a dialysis dept. that has "children" up to 20.  They have neo-natal with parents that could use cards of encouragement. Of course they have other children and cards for the youngest could just have colorful images, and teens. Because this is a Catholic hospital, they said they would accept cards with prayers, such as praying for you.

Wish list:

Well wishes

Have a great day

Christmas

Valentines

Halloween

Easter 

Encouragement

Thank you

Birthday 

CURRENT NEEDS: I am adding Mother's Day and Father's Day (FROM the kids) to this list for all our hospitals. Those two holidays and Easter and Spring cards are our next big holidays to make cards for. Please keep the older girls and boys in mind when you make your cards because we get the fewest cards for these age groups.

Please join me in thanking Janet for stepping up to help more kids. We still need more volunteers in different parts of the country to accept cards at their address, sort and deliver them to children's hospitals near to their home. Please contact me via the contact feature if you would be willing to help in this way.

Stamping smiles 4 our kids, Karen