Still in the Mood

’Tis the season. The holiday spirit. Holly jolly. We’re based in Chicago, IL and just walking along Michigan Avenue (on the way to Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital), you can see how everything is already decked out for the holiday season.

Getting everyone in the seasonal mood ASAP!

We know whether it’s the songs, holiday decorations, and/or companies just providing time, we often receive an increase in cards during the holiday season. We just want to remind everyone that it’s important that you are still inspired to make cards even if it’s not strictly holiday related/themed.

We’re not sure if you recall, but a few years ago we wrote a blog post about our “Best Nightmare.” In summary, that post touches on how we received a BUNCH of holiday cards the week of Christmas. In order to stick to our hashtag—#everycardcounts, our founder drove around to hospitals, shelters, and other locations in the Atlanta, GA area in order to make sure those cards were delivered. Unfortunately, more cards still came after the holidays.

One thing has changed and one thing has remained the same since the posting of “Best Nightmare”:

• ·       Changed: Shipping location. As touched on before, everyone who “works” with Cardz for Kidz! does so on a volunteer basis. At the time our founder was living in and having the cards shipped down to Atlanta. As you can see on our website our current delivery location is now in Chicago—323 E Wacker #11, Chicago, IL 60601.
• ·       Remained the same: Spending the week of Christmas in the Atlanta area. How it works is that our founder collects the cards, then has volunteers come to the “card counting parties” where everyone counts them up. Since no one is available to pick up the cards the week of Christmas, we need to receive all holiday cards significantly before then.

Based on the “Remained the same” situation, we actually have a large box of holiday cards that we’re getting ready to send to some children and families (#FamiliesToo). 

 Actually, it would be great if more people followed our friend, Karen G in IL’s lead. She sends us cards for a particular holiday the holiday before. For example, around Memorial Day she’ll start sending us Fourth of July cards along with her beautiful cards that are not related to any season or holiday.

In addition, we need to remember that although many of us celebrate the holidays there are many children and families in these hospitals who do not. Therefore, our partner hospitals may be getting one-time donations from other groups or individuals who strictly make cards around the holidays. 

With that in mind, we need to make sure that all of our partners have the right combination of all types of cards. Also, we want to make sure they have some flexibility to hold on to our card supply a bit longer just in case they get a bunch of holiday cards from other places.

We know this may not be as exciting and that during your parties and/or when you sit down to make cards in your free time, this month and in December, people will be focused on the holiday season; still, please remember that children are STILL IN THE MOOD to receive your cards even if they don’t specifically say, “Happy Holidays!” or “Seasons’ Greetings!” 

We updated our website to have a little reminder. 

#stillinthemood #upliftingspirits

To see more pictures and stories, please check out our website www.cardzforkidz.org; like us on Facebook; follow us on Twitter and Instagram; visit our Google+ or LinkedIn pages! Also, check out some of our videos on YouTube!