A blog dedicated to collecting and distributing handmade cards to children who are inpatient at Children's Hospitals. Please send us your handmade kids' cards for holidays, birthdays, and everyday cheer. Help us put a smile on our kids' faces! Thanks for reviewing the guidelines and volunteer updates before sending in your cards.
Thank you all for your help, kind words, cards, donations, challenge entries and smiles you have generated this year. I hope to be back in January with some numbers so you can see how many people you have helped us reach. Any guesses? I
Our new year of card challenge starts the first Saturday of January—I hope you'll play along. Check out the challenge rules tab for details.
Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season and happy new year!
SAS4Kids
Thanksgiving is a great time to celebrate all the good things in life, so it with a grateful heart I send A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who has sent in cards, monetary donations, card-making supplies or kind words to SAS4Kids! We couldn't send as many smiles without everyone's help.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Celebrated around the world on the first Saturday of the month, WCMD is a celebration of crafty artisans who create handmade cards. I hope many of you were able to take some time and create a card or two! If you did, consider entering it on our Monthly Challenge! Our theme this month is "Celebration" but we always have an "Anything Goes 4 Kids" theme as well. You don't have to have a blog to link to the party either, so there's really no excuse not to enter. Simply go to the Challenge Rules Tab and scroll down to see how to link your latest creation. Check out our DT's sample cards and other entries on the Challenge Tab page.
SAS4Kids sends handmade cards to hospitalized kids around the country, and the fall is our busiest time of the year due to the many holidays. However, we send happy mail and encouragement cards year-round, so it's never too late or too early to send on cards. Check the Current Needs Tab to see who needs cards! Addresses are on the Contact page.
Thank you to everyone who has sent in cards and shipping donations. I have sent more than 2,150 smiles this year and more will be sent next month. Other shippers have similar numbers! We couldn't do that without our crafty volunteer card makers and generous donors.
Hello crafty friends! I am happy to report that our own Kris Adams will be taking over two hospitals currently being served by Janet Kay who is "retiring" after a long and successful run as a volunteer shipper, trainer, hospital-finder, facebook guru, card-fixer, and all-around wealth of information and support. We wish her well in the future and know that she will be popping in every now and then.
Kris has been a shipper with SAS4Kids since 2019 and has happily and graciously agreed to add Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, IN, and OSF Children's Hospital in Peoria, IL, to her responsibilities. Thank you, Kris!
Our new challenge starts on the first Saturday of the month, September 2. Our next theme is Cute & Fun Fall/Halloween Cards 4 Kids! You still have a few days to join our current challenge, which is Birthday Cards 4 kids, so head over to the Challenge Tab to join the fun! There is a lot of great inspiration from the Design Team as well as the talented card makers who play along with us every month.
Our shippers are now accepting fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Holiday cards. Check out our Current Needs tab for who needs what. Our Contact page has mailing addresses for each shipper accepting cards.
Thank you for your support!
Have you ever wondered what it's like to be a volunteer shipper for SAS4Kids? It is very rewarding and doesn't take a whole lot of time, AND you get to see many great cards from talented card makers across the country— it's a ton of fun!
Want in?
We are currently in need of one or two volunteers to take over sending cards to two existing-client hospitals. One of our volunteers has to step back but she is willing to send you her existing card inventory and to answer any and all of your questions! The two hospitals are in Peoria, IL, and Indianapolis, IN.
Are you interested?? Contact me at sas4kidsjen at gmail dot com.
We are also hoping to increase our services to other hospitals, so if you know of a pediatric department/ children's hospital in need of some smiles and cheer, or you want to make a difference to pediatric patients in a hospital near you, please contact me at sas4kidsjen at gmail dot com.
Check out our challenges on the first Saturday of each month and join in! The details are posted on the Challenge tab and anyone can play along!
Happy summer!
Is it just me or are we moving quickly through the spring days? It's hard to believe Mother's Day is next weekend. In the world of card making, however, we are always working "ahead" to be sure we have the right cards to send to the kids. It is not unusual for me to receive fall cards in early summer, or winter holiday cards in August. Sometimes I forget which month it is.
I DO know that it is the first Saturday of some month, so that means a new card challenge!! This month we are celebrating fathers, dads, pops', grandfathers, father-figures, and step- and foster-fathers. So grab your supplies, ink up your stamps, and play along! Guidelines and instructions to link your card are in the Challenge Tab. It's easy and lots of fun.
Happy Valentine's Day
I was reading my email this evening and came across one from a national cookie delivery site. To celebrate the day, the owners of this company had solicited stories of love. Topics ranged from long-time sweethearts, to married couples enduring illness, and even a dog rescue. A number of responses were from Pediatric Nurses who mentioned how they bought Valentine’s Day cards to share with their patients, and how that little act of kindness made such a big difference in their patients’ days.
It made me pleased that SAS4Kids is able to supply Valentine’s Day cards—and other cheerful cards—to hospitals. I would love to be able to reach more in-patient care centers so the nurses, doctors, volunteers, and staff are able to have these resources at work. If you know of a facility that would benefit from our cards, please send me their information and I will get in touch with them.
All of this outreach wouldn’t be possible without the wonderful card makers and donors who support us throughout the year. Whether it’s a monetary donation for shipping, a holiday-specific message or a general encouragement card, each and every contribution helps us make a pediatric patient’s day something special.
Thank you for your support!
Welcome, 2023
2022 has come to a close and we're welcoming in the New Year with a card challenge, the collection of spring cards, and hopefully some growth in the number of hospitals we serve.
Check out our Challenge page to see all the examples and play along! The challenge guidelines can be found on our Challenge Rules Tab, and that's also where you'll find directions to upload your card. Our challenges start on the first Saturday of the month. It's a lot of fun and we'd love to see what you're creating!
Some shippers are accepting spring and non-religious Easter cards (those are cards with bunnies, chicks, easter eggs, and the like.) Please check the Current Needs page to see who is requesting these and other themes. Everyday cheerful and encouragement cards are never "too late."
I am hoping that all COVID restrictions will be lifted and all our hospitals will be accepting cards again this year. I would also like to grow our small group of hospitals so we can bring smiles to more children and their families.
Thank you for visiting Send a Smile 4 Kids!
Have a safe and happy 2023!
