Category: Payitforward

A look inside - WVU Children's Hospital Hem/Onc Suprise Box

12/11/2016

West Virginia University Children's Hospital is one of our newest recipients of a hematology/oncology unit surprise box!

Their hospital was selected in honor of Matthew Rose, who was not only a gown receipient and patient at their facility, but the cousin of our former Treasurer.

Matthew "Super Matt" passed away in 2014 after a six year battle on and off again battle with cancer. He had been diagnosed with a Wilms Tumor in 2008 on his right kidney. His cancer relapsed three times. He was treated both at a hospital more local to our location, but also West Virginia University Children's Hospital.

This is Matthew, when he passed away he not only left behind his parents, but his brother Troy as well. We made Troy a Freckles that matched Matthew's gown before he passed away.

Below shows the items that were included inside the surprise box that we sent to WVU Children's Hospital.

Beads of Courage Bead Bags
Chemotherapy Bag Covers
Fabric Headbands
Reusable Face Masks
Band-Aids
Stickers

The first four items were all made from remnant fabric from gown requests and the last two are items that have been donated throughout the year just for this specific collection we do all the time.

It isn't much in comparison to what these children and teens go through, but we hope they find comfort in the little things...because not only are complete strangers thinking about them, but they're in their corner cheering them on!

We're also working on getting together our Tween & Teen Program that has been officially announced on our Facebook Page, and will be live on our website here shortly as well. This program has two sides that is recognizes the unmet needs of children in the hospital that are over the age of 10 years old, but it is also in honor and memory of another local cancer warrior her that passed away in 2012.

There will be more to come soon on that - and definitely new opportunities to help support Gracie's Gowns through this program between sewing opportunities, collection drives, and even packaging days.

Late Night Thoughts and Inspiration

8/2/2015

The last few weeks I have been awake and taking care of essentially everything 15-20 hours out of each day. This is not a complaint, to be honest, I've been amazed that I can function like this given everything behind the scenes, however, it is in these late hours that I do start to feel stress in relation to getting the important aspects of Gracie's Gowns taken care of.

This is my job, this is my dream, this is the legacy that I will leave behind when my time is over on this earth, and I will continue to put forth every ounce of energy to make the bigger plans I have in store for Gracie's Gowns come true. However, despite all my valiant efforts to save the world one stitch at a time, it can be and sometimes is exhausting, overwhelming, and even in some aspects it can be frightening.

Those are the moments I look for inspiration to just keep swimming and to bring myself back to where it all began. Sounds simple, but even that can prove challenging. That being said, over the last month or so I have a constant reminder that has helped me to remember just how amazing this organization is and will continue to be, my roots in creating it, the reasons behind every stitch, and how far the organization has come since conception a little over three years ago.

A little over a year ago I had a box of 4" x 4" fabric squares that had been cut from remnant pieces of gowns and from what I can remember now some of my personal projects as well, just taking up space, so to speak. It was always my intention to make them into scrap quilts and raffle or auction them off in order to help raise shipping funds and such.

I had posted to Facebook about this box of scrap pieces and Rosie was so excited to take them off my hands and make them into "something special." Little did I know that this something special would end up being for me.

When she first brought this scrap quilt over and I opened it up, I couldn't help but start crying. It is sentimental on so many levels. There are pieces from gowns from day one of me sewing them, gowns of children that have passed away, and so many pieces of gowns that I can pick out the name of who it was for, because I am just that kind of person that every child deserves a gown just as unique as they are.

And then there are the random, I just thought they were pretty fabrics that I used to make items to sell at Graves Mountain over the last three years to raise money for Gracie's Gowns (like the macaroons one above). I originally had posted to our page that the quilt was going to be for raffle or auction, but the more I looked at it, the more I thought about it, the more I held it...I just couldn't let it go and in that moment, Rosie messaged me saying that the quilt was for me/Gracie's Gowns to keep as a reminder and keepsake of these children we make gowns for.

It is in my plans to have an office in the near-ish future, while I always say the sooner the better, we have some decisions to make and the office may have to be postponed just a wee bit, but I do know that when I have an office, there will be a reading corner for families and children to use while they are there. This will be going in that reading corner, so anyone who needs a hug, can snuggle up with it and feel connected and hugged by all the children who have gowns represented by this quilt. Right now, it sits on the back of my sewing chair...the best place for it to be, to continuously remind and inspire every stitch...and to keep me warm when this bedroom becomes way too cold.

Thank you Rosie for blessing me with such a sweet keepsake...and thank you to all our families for blessing me with being a part of your child's medical journey, to inspire me to be a better person and to fight for not only what matters most, but what I believe in as well.

Giving Back - Beyond our Surprise Boxes

7/27/2015

Throughout the year, Gracie's Gowns gives to other organizations as well. Whether it is extra fabric from gown requests, fabric that just isn't quite best for gown requests or even items we have made to be given to other organizations.

I always feel it is important to support other organizations, not only because they support our mission and endeavors, but because many times more than not, they work with a lot of the same children and families that we do...and that is one of the amazing blessings that has come from starting Gracie's Gowns.

So here is some of the places we have paid it forward to this year so far.

The first one is Madelyn's Hats, which is operated by Melissa in honor and memory of her mother. Melissa makes chemotherapy hats for women battling cancer (and I believe she does make them for children too, though, please do not quote me 100% on that one). We met Melissa on our own Facebook page through a post and just love what she does, so in our donation to her, we included some of our leftover sports team fabrics, and many of the more adult oriented prints and some prints that were too small for gowns, but are the perfect size for her hats.

Another donation we sent out this year was to another organization called Socks 4 Surgery, which is operated by Ellen. Many of you have probably heard about Socks 4 Surgery if you've been on Facebook for a while and are in groups for parents of children with chronic and life-threatening illnesses.

Ellen makes amazing onesies, T-shirts, and of course socks, all themed around birth defects and medical conditions. When we moved last year, I packed up my sewing area for not only Gracie's Gowns, but all the years of sewing prior to that which was for business. While unpacking, I found these onesies and T-shirts and immediately thought of Ellen and wanted to send them to her. In that conversation we learned her family member had cancer and was a huge Cleveland Browns fan, so with the onesies, we made a chemo bag cover from remnant fabric from gowns and sent it as well.

The other larger fabric donation we have made so far this year was to an organization we have supported several times of the last couple of years, Bee Brave.

The majority of the time we are sending smaller scrap pieces, but this time we had several large pieces of fabric we had already cut into multiple gowns and then we had several pieces that were just too heavy of fabrics for gown requests, but would be perfect and durable enough for their Busy Buddies.

Melissa (must be an awesome name for starting organizations), has just recently moved, so Bee Brave is taking a little break while they are getting settled and set back up, but they should be up and running soon! They make amazing activity trays for children with chronic and life-threatening illnesses.

Lastly, we have a NICU Smock donation to add to the year. This is separate from our usual NICU surprise boxes because they are not only a part of another organization's care packages, they are for Christmas time.

Handful of Hope puts together NICU care packages for different holidays throughout the year for Penn Highlands Healthcare in DuBois, Pennsylvania. We have sent them some Christmas gowns in the past and were more than honored to do so again this year. Each year they put together around twenty care packages, so we sent over a few more in case there are several being admitted and discharged from the NICU again this year, or even to go towards next year's care packages.

No worries, we have been sending out NICU surprise boxes and I do have to get caught up on writing about them, but while I was going through pictures on the computer and updating the website I wanted to share some of the behind the scenes fun we've been having.

Hope everyone has been enjoying their summer so far!

Much Love and Many Blessings,
Jessica

No Fabric Wasted ~ Paying it Forward

9/30/2014

This year we've worked on some more Beads of Courage bead bags and we were looking forward to donating them to the table at CureFest last weekend, but they were not in attendance this year. So instead we are mailing them back to the main office of Beads of Courage and cannot wait for them to be distributed to children participating in the program across the United States and the world.

Each bag we make is from left over pieces of fabric from our gowns. Even though they won't make it to the same kiddos we have made gowns for (or by sheer luck some might) it is still a special honor to use the fabric we've received through donations or purchased with donations to benefit another great organization.

In this batch (yes, there will be more) is a total of 25 bead bags and if you'd like to make some from your own fabric remnants here is the link for the directions and more information:
http://www.beadsofcourage.org/pages/quilters.htm

This is a great project for Fat Quarters and pieces of fabric similar in size. The labels are supplied by Beads of Courage as well and they really do make the bags look so spiffy! Their labels is what actually made me want to get labels made for our gowns, they just have a more professional feel to them with a label.

Each bag is lined with a fabric of your choice and the seam once turned is sewed together on the bottom of the lining fabric, so no one really sees it (but still keep it pretty). I like using coordinating fabrics, plus it helps dwindle down the "stash" of fabrics I have here taking up space...so I can buy more...just kidding (maybe only halfway kidding). You can also use the same fabric you did for the outside of the bag as well.

Here is what I use for the drawstrings - it isn't cording and for the life of me, I can't remember what it is actually called. Once I purchase more, I will make sure to look at the name of it and post it as a comment to this blog posting. Normally I get it from Joanns with a coupon, it doesn't cost very much then, but you need 26" per bag, so I try to buy whatever they have. The last few times I have been in our local store, they haven't had any though.

Below are the close-ups of the fabrics we used for this batch of Beads of Courage bead bags.
Do you see the fabric we used for your child's gown? If so, which one?

These will go out in tomorrow's mail and should arrive before the end of the week - once again it has been a pleasure working on these bead bags and we can't wait to finish up another batch!

~ Gracie's Gowns

Operation NICU Surprise - Johns Hopkins Children's Center (Maryland)

7/11/2014

Our second NICU we chose to receive a box of NICU Smocks was Johns Hopkins Children's Center NICU located in Baltimore, Maryland. They have a state of the art NICU that was built in 2012 and it includes 45 private NICU beds. They services neonates with all sorts of complex congenital birth defects and disorders in addition to the little ones just born too soon. The thing I love the most about their new NICU is that each room has the ability for a parent to stay in the hospital with their baby, something most NICUs don't have, well many intensive care units don't have that, even the ones for adults. You can learn more about the NICU and what they offer through their website at: http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/neonatology/

Johns Hopkins Children Center's NICU was nominated by Adrianne in honor of her son Xavier who was cared for by the wonderful doctors and nurses in the NICU. Xavier was born with more complex issues than just premature delivery, but the doctors and nurses went the extra mile to care for him through it all. This was a few years before the new facility was built, but Adrianne was awesome in sharing with us some photos from and (and now). You can read their story below in her own words.

My son, Xavier (now 5), was born 4 weeks early due to low amniotic fluid. I had a normal pregnancy and didn't expect anything different despite his late prematurity. Little did my husband and I know that on Friday March 13, 2009 things were about to change dramatically. When Xavier was born (at 4lbs) there were immediate signs of distress...he had difficulty breathing as well showing signs of seizures. He also looked different than typical children. He was born at a hospital close to our home that had wonderful OB/GYN and infant care. But despite their best care we were told they were unable to provide enough support for Xavier in their NICU. We were told on his fourth day of life that he had to be transferred to Johns Hopkins in order to undergo further testing and access to doctors skilled in more complex cases. We were in shock to say the least. We were not expecting any of this and suddenly our lives were turned upside down. Getting to the NICU at Hopkins was a whirlwind of nurses, doctors, and tests. I have to admit I was bitter and just wanted to bring my son home and not have him poked and prodded. We were told that Xavier likely had a genetic syndrome and he was, in fact, experiencing seizures. He also had to learn to breathe and eat on his own. It was noted that he also had a number of congenital anomalies. Xavier spent a total of 32 days in the NICU and in that time my husband and I created relationships with doctors, nurses, and even other families that last until this day. They rallied in our highs and supported us in our lows. Xavier's nurses gloated at the fact that I was able to provide him solely with enough fresh breast milk and at the skill of his dad as he was the only one Xavier would drink from a bottle for. They called us immediately with good test results and sat with us to understand more difficult ones. In that time out dread and fear were able to be calmed by simply talking with the nurses about "normal" things. We joked, talked about the weather, and we brought them food (a fed nurse is a happy nurse lol). When the day came for X to come home our doctor met us in the hallway singing the Rocky anthem as we strolled X's stroller into the NICU. You never want to see your child go through such difficult things but I know our son was in the best hands. 2 years after his birth Xavier was finally diagnosed with a rare genetic syndrome called Schinzel-Giedion syndrome. He's one of approximately 12 kids worldwide. We would have never gotten this diagnosis had it not been for our geneticist and genetic counselor...providers who have been with us since the NICU. We have been with our different specialists through surgeries and hospitalizations. Each year we attend the NICU reunion to see the nurses and other babies who were with us from the beginning. Xavier has even attended daycare and now school with the little girl who was next to him in the NICU. We never expected to have a child with special needs but we are fortunate and forever thankful to the staff at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center NICU.

Thank you so much Adrianne for nominating Johns Hopkins Children's Center and for sharing your story with us and our followers as well - the NICU Smocks have already made their way to Johns Hopkins Children's Center (they were mailed the first week of this month) and we hope they bring many smiles to the facility, but even more so to the families that receive one of them for their little one. Here are a few pictures of the gowns and because my oldest colored the box so pretty, she insisted I share a photo of that as well.

When we have more sewn and ready, we will work on pulling some more NICU nominations and dispersing them to other hospital around the United States and the world. It is such a blessing to send these everywhere we can, but even more so to wrap the littlest miracles in something comfy of their own.

Have a beautiful weekend!
Gracie's Gowns

Gown Request Sponsor Giveaway Fun

6/9/2014

We decided to do something a little different - we always need help at Gracie's Gowns, but because of the personal aspect of our mission in making each gown as unique as the child it is for, sometimes it is harder for us to reach out in ways that anyone and everyone can help. Last summer and fall we instituted a sponsorship page on our website - this page is where we list children on our request list that we currently do not have fabric to make their gown from.
We receive fabric donations every so often, but many times we can't use them right away as we like to pair up the interests of the child to the fabric used for their gown. This allows everyone to choose a specific child they'd like to sponsor and have a personal connection to Gracie's Gowns as well...it is a really awesome way to directly support Gracie's Gowns and help us continue to make gowns for all these children.

So, this year we wanted to step things up a little bit and give a great big thank you to everyone who has been so wonderful in helping sponsor these gown requests. We are creating sponsor levels that will be published on our website both on a personal and business level, but also by giving away a special surprise to one of the angels that help sponsor a gown request. This month will be the first month we get to do just that. We opened it up in May, but the drawing is at the end of this month and it is for a Thirty-One Gifts bundle of items worth $75.00!! Hollie has been awesome enough to donate the items for this giveaway to one of our sponsors! And we already have something lined up for July too!
You can do a general gown sponsorship if you can't decide as to which child you'd like to sponsor or would like to sponsor multiple requests - the average gown sponsorship is $25.00 and we always have children on our wait list that aren't on the sponsorship page because we just can't post every single little one all at once without overwhelming our website and your computer or phone. The button below will allow you to donate towards sponsoring a gown.

Also, if you belong to a company or direct sales business and would like to donate something for a month to be given away to one of our sponsors, please let us know! We'd love to help advertise and support your business, as well as, show our gown sponsors how much we really appreciate their love and support! You can contact us about sponsoring a month at: jessica@graciesgowns.org

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer or getting ready to start enjoying their summer!
Have a blessed day,

Gracie's Gowns

Operation NICU Surprise - Tripler Army Medical Center (Hawaii)

5/20/2014

Earlier in the month we asked everyone on our Facebook page to nominate a NICU and/or Hematology/Oncology unit or clinic that was there favorite to receive a special surprise from Gracie's Gowns!

We are choosing two NICUs and two Hematology/Oncology units from those nominated to receive a special box from us. The first NICU was chosen - and it is going to Tripler Army Medical Center's NICU in Honolulu, Hawaii! Jennifer nominated the hospital after her son Colton (who is also a Gracie's Gowns recipient) was born and cared for by the NICU staff. She was awesome enough to include a story of his stay and just how wonderful the staff was - and some sweet photos to share as well!

Here is her precious Colton when he was born and cared for back in August of 2011. She includes the following about the hospital and staff at Tripler Army Medical Center's NICU.

"Our son was in the NICU for 12 days in August 2011. Our pregnancy with my son was very rough. Not many doctors believed he would make it or he wouldn't live long after brith. The NICU was just very amazing with him. They did everything they could to help him and it was so nice to finally have someone believe in him. They felt like family to us when we were there. And they just went above and beyond for my son. The NICU staff was just amazing! My son had an MRI when he was 1 1/2 months old and they let my son back into the NICU to be observed overnight bc they knew I was very uncomfortable with him going to the PICU with a bunch of sick kids. They were very understanding and cared very much for my son! And being a Military Hospital a lot of kids are in there with just one parent and no other family members to help them out during a stressful time in life and they could use a little a cute hospital gown!"

The photo above on the left is Colton in his gown from us back in September of last year (2013) and the photo on the right is him today at 2.5 years old! Look how much he has grown and how precious that smile is!! Way to go Colton - you've come so far and we have no doubt it was because of the fabulous start and care you have received since coming into this world!

So what's the surprise we're sending to Tripler Army Medical Center's NICU?

Well, we are sending them thirty NICU smocks to be distributed to the babies they care for! We know it doesn't remotely even make a dent into the 1,100 babies they serve annually, but at least there will be thirty styling babies this year!

These will be sent out this week to Hawaii and we hope they are received with much love and bring many smiles to the families that receive on of the gowns!

Thank you Jennifer for nominating Triple Army Medical Center's NICU and sharing Colton's NICU story with us and allowing us to share it with all that may read our posting!

Thank you as well to Kim for sewing pretty much every single one of these thirty gowns going to the NICU (after we drew the name - we learned Kim's granddaughter was born at this hospital as well, but fortunately did not need to be admitted to the NICU).

Stay tuned for our second NICU to be drawn once we have the items completed - but also for our Hematology and Oncology units/clinics to be chosen!

Lots of Gracie's Gowns cuteness to come!

Another Box of Goodies - Off to Oregon

5/13/2014

We talk about Healing Helpers a lot - why? Because they are just so awesome!!

I am all about practical gifts for children in the hospital - hence we make hospital gowns. They are fun, they can be used and they make sense. Healing Helpers do that as well.

They provide comfort, they are fun and they make sense by providing a child with a best friend that is just as special as they are! They are an awesome teaching tool for parents and care providers alike. They can help start a conversation and help "break the ice" in ways nothing else can. Just like our hospital gowns, they show the individual behind the chart...not just a diagnosis.

So with our move coming up really fast, we've been going through more and more in the crafting areas and the kiddos are more than willing to pass along their "loved, but not essentially for living with" animals over to Healing Helpers to be used in making best friends for other children around the world.

It fills my heart to see my littles so giving and so caring of other children that are just as special and unique as they are, but have more medical concerns then they do.

Then it is up to mommy to finish filling the box with her "loved, but not going to be used anytime soon, I am a craft supply hoarder at heart" supplies to be used in the making of pockets and organs and bands and more!

So we have so felt, remnant pieces of fabric from gowns and other pieces of fabric from personal projects.
The fabrics are used for the pouches with zippers and the felt is for all the other amazing surgeries, wrist bands, key chains and anything else Michael and Lani-lee come up with over there!
They are literally creative geniuses!

I can't wait to see some of these get used and look forward to sending more lovely items their way in the future - Healing Helpers is a very special business to us and great supporters as well! It is always nice to have a set of friends that share a similar passion and yet go about it in such a different way we can compliment each other and work well together!

You can see all Healing Helpers has to offer and browse their website at:

http://www.healinghelpers147.com/

Don't forget to tell them we sent you over!

End of Spring Raffle Winners

5/6/2014

Our spring raffle ended last week and we rounded out the items given away with several great prizes!
All prizes have been mailed out and should be received very shortly if they haven't already arrived - there are a few I still have to deliver in person, but that will be taken care of this week as well.
I would like to say thank you so much once again to everyone who helped out with this fundraiser and while we didn't reach our goal in ticket sales, we still broke even with our expenses and have a great time seeing everyone get excited about the items they won!
We hope everyone enjoys their new goodies and we look forward to doing our summer charity raffle late July or early August depending on when I can finish getting everything sewn up and completed.

Our twenty-second winner was Brenda Hill - her items were from Scentsy!

The items for this day in the raffle were donated by Christi Smith - a Scentsy consultant that is also the mother of a child we have made a gown for.

This cute bunny is a charity item by Scentsy for March of Dimes - we'd love to be able to get a few more of these to include with our NICU gown donations to hospitals.

Christi's business website is:
http://csmithrn04.scentsy.us

Our twenty-third winner was Karen Valdez - her items were from The Pampered Chef!

The items for this day in the raffle were donated by Audra Smith - a Pampered Chef consultant that is close friends with a gown recipient's family.

Audra's business website is:
www.pamperedchef.biz/audra

Our twenty-fifth winner was Brianna Horney - her items were from The Pampered Chef!

The items for this day in the raffle were sponsored by Marie Snyder - a local Pampered Chef consultant to Gracie's Gowns.

You can find Marie's business page on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/PampChefLady

And her business website is:
www.pamperedchef.biz/foodisfun

Our twenty-ninth winner was Megan Jensen - her items were from The Pampered Chef!

The items for this day in the raffle were sponsored by Marie Snyder - a local Pampered Chef consultant to Gracie's Gowns.

You can find Marie's business page on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/PampChefLady

And her business website is:
www.pamperedchef.biz/foodisfun

And there you have it - the last of our raffle winners!!
CONGRATULATIONS to all our winners and once again thank you so much to everyone who helped, donated an item, purchased a ticket and just spread the word about our raffle!

Week Three of Winners Spring Raffle

4/22/2014

We are entering the last week and some of our spring raffle now!
It has been so much fun drawing winners for the prizes given in this raffle and I hope everyone is loving their new goodies. Here are the winners from last year.

Our eighteen winner was Vicki Quick - her items were from Scentsy!

The items for this day in the raffle were sponsored by Karen Day Hill!

Karen's business website is:
http://karendayhill.scentsy.us

Our nineteenth winner was Susan Casey-Ellis - her items were from The Pampered Chef!

The items for this day in the raffle were donated by Audra Smith - a Pampered Chef consultant that is close friends with a gown recipient's family.

Audra's business website is:
www.pamperedchef.biz/audra

Our twenty-first winner was Irene Luck - her items were from The Pampered Chef!

The items for this day in the raffle were sponsored by Marie Snyder - a local Pampered Chef consultant to Gracie's Gowns.

You can find Marie's business page on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/PampChefLady

And her business website is:
www.pamperedchef.biz/foodisfun

CONGRATULATIONS to EVERYONE!!!
And thank you to everyone who has helped with this raffle by purchasing a ticket, donating items, sharing our event and inviting your friends as well!
We still have some tickets for purchase for the last of our amazing raffle items! There's a deep covered baker from Pampered Chef, Scentsy bundles and more still to be given away!