Ava Grace/Hayden Christmas Project for their Earth Angel Friends at Batson

Well it is Christmas Open House Weekend in many of our small Delta towns. Many people are preparing for the Holiday season. For Amy, Bryan, Brent, and myself it will be a struggle. It will be a struggle for Amy and Bryan to continue to keep smiling faces for their angels during the Christmas season. While we will be at an empty and boring house on Christmas. Halloween gave us the feeling of being invisible and broken. So I am really scared that I need to disappear to an island for Christmas. Luckily, instead of disappearing, we are anxious to help children that are battling diseases gain a smile this Holiday season. The palliative care team and child life teams were truly a blessing to Ava Grace and Hayden. They truly gave us love, HOPE, and SUPPORT. We are looking forward to giving back to them. Many people have asked what they can do to help in memory of Ava Grace and Hayden. Here is a list of needs for the Palliative Care floor at Batson. They will share these items with other floors also.

The following letter is a list of needs for the Batson hospital floor of Palliative Care:

·         A slight reminder:  children actually LIVE on this floor in the hospital.

Cups, McDonalds, Backyard Burger, Subway, Chick-fil-A, and Wendy’s gift cards  (20 dollar Maximum)

New Release movies (Baby Einstein up to Teen)
DS games
iTunes cards
Hobby Lobby, Wal-Mart, Target cards
Rattles and teethers
Infant/Toddler toys with lights and music
Karaoke CDs
CD players (small ones) and popular CDs
Xbox 360 and Kinect Games

Prepaid Visa cards (20 dollar maximum)
Word search and crossword books
Art canvases of all sizes
Bedside arts and craft projects (Color Wonder, scratch art, sand art, etc)

Cribside Mobiles (Fisher Price aquarium types)

Journals
Crayola Markers
Social Games (Catch Phrase, etc)
Look and Find/I Spy books
Party Blowers, whistles, kazoos etc
Small photo albums
Disposable cameras
Photo paper
Scrapbook materials
Hand and footprint kits (can be found in craft sections at Hobby Lobby/Wal-Mart)

We will be taking these gifts to Batson sometime in the first few weeks of December. If you are interested in donating gift cards or anything else to Batson in memory of Hayden and Ava Grace, thank you! GIFT CARDS ARE A HUGE HELP AND NEED TO THE HOSPITAL. MAXIMUM OF 20 DOLLARS PER GIFT CARD.  MANY FAMILIES SPEND DAYS, WEEKS, AND MONTHS IN THE HOSPITAL. THESE ITEMS HELP FAMILIES financially. SECOND, I ASKED ABOUT CANVAS’, THE CHILDREN THAT LIVE THERE LOVE PRETTY DECORATED CANVAS’ SO IF YOU LIKE TO PAINT GO FOR ITJ ALSO BLANK CANVAS’ ARE NEEDED AS THEY LIKE TO PAINT THEMSELVES. GIFTS/TOYS/GIFT CARDS cannot be wrapped!

Lastly, teachers: PICU and NICU cannot receive items. We were thinking of allowing children to do Christmas cards/ pictures to pass out to these families. Merry Christmas is allowed on these cards. So if you and your class are interested in making Christmas cards, GO FOR IT J

You can mail to either of us if interested in participating. I know you will place a smile on each of these children’s faces. Thank you for your faithful prayers and loving hearts.