Sorry for all of the confusion about how Cardz for Kidz!
is growing! At first we told you what we wanted to be When We Grew
Up—able to issue scholarships to former patients. Next, we briefly
shared about what we wanted to do in our pre-teen years—Long-Term
Impact Across the Globe. Now, while those are both still part of our future
plans, we’re going to introduce one more objective. Something a bit more
immediate. Something we’re going to start fundraising for this summer!
We were so close to initially describing our partnership with the Gamers Outreach Foundation as being
“a match made in heaven.” We both have a similar mission of reaching children unable
to leave their hospital rooms—and we were established in the same state:
Michigan. However, the only thing that wasn’t heavenly was our inability to agree
(financially) on how much this partnership would cost us. In case you don’t want
to click on the link and check out their website, we’ll provide you with some
background information right here. The Gamers Outreach Foundation is an
organization that puts TVs and Xbox gaming consoles on custom portable stands—called
“GO Karts” (Gamers Outreach Karts)—and donates them to hospitals across the
country.
Now here’s why we were initially so excited to connect with this foundation.
Thankfully our financial donations started to increase; so, we decided that since
we had more than enough money to cover some of our global card shipments, we could
start to do a bit more.
Children in
the UK opening up their first package of cards!
If you’ve followed us for a while you already know we’re
PASSIONATE about the young patients confined to their hospital rooms.
Therefore, as donations increased, we began to think of a way to donate
portable TV+video game consoles to hospitals that could go from room-to-room—just
like the cards you make! At first, we reached out to one non-profit and they
told us it would cost $5,000 for one of those systems. We tried to explain how
we’re also a non-profit and we don’t need our name on them—we’re just trying to
help the hospitals, but they refused to listen. Then we talked with some
connections about potentially building our own portable TV+video game console systems,
but didn’t get very far because they stated that there were so many
restrictions and requirements. Finally, our founder went on Facebook and posted on
his personal account about his DREAM to provide younger patients confined to
their rooms with fun and uplifting video games plus other activities. The next
day, a former classmate replied to his post with information about the Gamers Outreach Foundation and their special GO Karts!
Even more amazing: the Gamers
Outreach Foundation is based in Michigan and their first GO Kart donation
was to C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital—the very same hospital where our founder’s passion
for volunteering was birthed, while serving there in middle school!
After some further discussions between the founders of both organizations,
Cardz for Kidz!
had no choice but to agree to pay the full price of $3,500 per
GO Kart. To put things in perspective—dating back to our first event in 2010 to
where we currently stand in 2017—there have only been THREE times where we’ve
received over $3,500 in donations! Still, we will try to purchase at least one
GO Kart this year!
The Gamers
Outreach Foundation’s GO Karts.
So, with your generous
contributions, we’ll be able to not only continue to send cards to children all
over the world—from Australia to Ghana to the United States—but also be able to
begin donating these GO Karts to some of our partner hospitals that do not have
large play rooms or resources for their young patients (see #TooSmallNoSuchThing). At the end of the day, we’re
two non-profits that are dedicated to helping uplift the spirits of children. We’re hoping we’ll be able to raise the funds so
that, Cardz for Kidz!
+ the Gamers Outreach Foundation can still be the PERFECT PAIR. We appreciate your
donations to help us raise funds for these GO Karts; please support us with
your donations on either of these websites:
More information about our fundraiser this summer, Pledge Allegiance,
coming soon!
#PerfectPair #UpliftingSpirits
Great to find such portable items exist. I am sure it is secure in itself and maintenance is included in the initial price.
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