There are so many of you out there that have given every year, some who just heard about what we are trying to do and some of you are anonymous. It just goes to show that it takes all walks of life to come together and do something good. And boy did you ever!
This year was just as wonderful as past years all because of your incredible generosity. We were able to spend over $850 on our shopping trip and filled over two karts! We bought and received great items like Frozen dolls, remote control helicopters, craft kits, footballs and much more. We also received three Kindle Fire's and over $300 in various gift cards!
We were met by many familiar faces at the docks to help us unload. They shared some of the exciting things going on at Providence/Sacred Heart. They have found themselves having to send adult heart patients to other hospitals because there is currently no room. They decided to expand and construction has begun! Read about it here! And see some of the progress here!
It's not just the number of adult patients that have increased, we learned that in the last couple months they had 15 children who had heart surgeries. 15 kids, 15 families. I was visiting with a good friend of mine who is about to finish nursing school here in the Tri-Cities and she was explaining to me that she would love to get a job in pediatrics in one of our local hospitals but that there weren't enough patients to warrant the positions. Really sick kids are going somewhere else. Hearing things like this makes me even more confident that what we are all doing is important and needed.
I would like to give a few shout outs to some of our amazing supporters. I would really like to thank Mirage Pool N Spa, The Batter's Box, Shakey's Pizza, and Stemp Screenprinting and Embroidery Shop for allowing us to put donation bins in their businesses again this year! I would also like to thank everyone at Conover Insurance for their incredible support and helping us partner with Gesa Carousel of Dreams. The people at the Carousel of Dreams were wonderful and gracious to open their doors to us. It was fantastic to meet the volunteers and see all the smiles on the kids' faces as they took a ride. I would also like to thank Paul Brown for allowing us to use his trailer to haul all of the toys to Spokane. One less expense so we could spend more money on toys! And you, I want to thank each and every one of you and your families who helped make this happen. You have done something for these kids that to me is what this season is all about. It's helping to bring people together, it's giving of the heart, being mindful of the abundance we have as well as being incredibly compassionate to those who are battling something we can't fix.
We heard back from the hospital and it looks like the Santa Store was a big success again this year! Remember, patients get to shop for their siblings and their siblings get to shop for child who has spend the holiday in the hospital - wonderful! The Spokesman Review did a story on the Santa Store, KYLY News Station did a story and Sacred Heart also shared their words here and here on how well it went for all the children.
Our visit was great and there was something extra this year that I'm really excited to share with you. For my birthday this year my parents got me (our family really) a fish in the Sea of Possibilities at Sacred Heart! What is that you ask? For any of you who have been to Sacred Heart Children's Hospital you know that they try to provide beautiful environments for kids to be in, instead of stark, beige, fluorescent lighted hallways. The Sea of Possibilities sky bridge is like an "underwater" passageway, where children can stroll among school of tropical fish, listen to underwater sounds and look out over the city. The sky bridge is between PICU and the children's oncology wing. It not only overlooks the city but it also overlooks the Meditation Garden which we have walked so many times. In my opinion, it is even more beautiful now. Thank you so much to my Mom and Dad for doing something so special for us, we are forever grateful.
So if you ever find yourself at Sacred Heart please find the Sea of Possibilities, look up and remember.
We wish you all the wonder that Christmas holds! We hope that you are surrounded by family and friends experiencing moments of laughter and pure joy.
Thank you for everything you all have done for our family, we will have something to help lift us up as the absence of Sutton weighs on our heart!
See you all in 2015!
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