Hello all! So growing up, I spent a lot of time in the hospital, and the only visitors or contact I had was the staff of the hospital - the doctors, nurses, and other members of the hospital staff. I felt miserable and alone, on top of everything else.
As we know, the new line of Star Wars toys for the new movie comes out September 30th, and will be available at local stores and (hopefully) online. Those of you working in retail have probably already received shipments. When these come out, they may be grabbed fast, mostly by collectors. But we can grab them for a better purpose - donations! So I'm starting up a toy drive for All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg and Orlando (I would do elsewhere, but I don't have their contact info, so if anyone wants to get on that, that would be fantastic).
One toy costs less than a coffee, you don't have to show up, you just have to mail the package in to the Child Life department.
For St. Petersburg, that is:
Child Life Department 6500001304
Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital
501 6th Ave South
St Petersburg FL 33701
For Orlando, that is:
601 East Rollins Street, Orlando, FL 32803
Contacts for St. Petersburg are Heather Bailey, Phone 727-767-3958, email hbailey4@jhmi.edu
Contacts for Orlando are phone - 407-303-9456, email - Nusrat.Afroz@flhosp.org
If you any questions or ideas, contact them. They'd also love volunteering, and I've pointed them toward our Request an Invasion page!
These kids often receive nothing. A single toy to them is a cuddle friend, a comfort, imagination, play, everything. If you can't give, that's ok, but if you can, even just one is monumental. This is a really great chance to show off what the MMCC can do.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and thank you, thank you, thank you if you decide to donate. I will be, as much as I can, so I hope others choose to follow suit.