Helping Sick Children

     A couple of times this year I've written about a site I found in England (Post Pals) that facilitates the process of writing to seriously ill children.  For these children, who faces such daunting daily challenges, receiving mail from someone far away can be a real bright spot in their lives.  Well, today I found a similar site based in the US.  It's called Hugs and Hope.

     Similar to Post Pals, the site features many different children, all suffering from very serious illnesses, and gives readers an address where they can write to these children.  For each child, the site also tells some of their interests, the names and ages of their siblings, etc.  I chose a 15 year old boy who has had eye cancer since he was less than one.  I wrote him a letter introducing myself and connecting on a few topics that might be of interest.
     When you read the stories of some of these children, it's so hard to imagine how difficult their lives have been and often continue to be.  It's also hard to imagine how challenging it must be for their families.  Writing to them seems like such a small thing that any of us can do to make a difference.

     

Bringing Smiles Across the Sea

     Earlier this year, I mentioned a website I had discovered that facilitates the process of writing to children with severe illnesses.  For many of these children, having a pen pal, or receiving a letter or package in the mail can really brighten their day.  The site, based in England, is called PostPals.  (When you write to a child, whether by e-mail or snail mail, it gets delivered to a different address and then forwarded to the appropriate person.  This is obviously for security/privacy reasons).

     Today I decided to write e-mails to 2 different children.  The website tells about their family and their interests so it's reasonably easy to make conversation related to their interests.  I also told them a little about my family so they can feel a more personal connection to me.  I hope that my e-mail made them each smile a little more today.  I also hope they'll write back to me so that we can begin to correspond more regularly.  

      Speaking of e-mails, I also exchanged e-mails with my adopted soldier in Afghanistan today.  He received the package I sent last week and was particularly excited to get the peanut butter I sent to him!  You never know what little things people will miss when overseas.  He's also from Kentucky and is a big University of Kentucky basketball fan, so he's one happy soldier right now.  It's been so great to get to know him over the past months.  I can only imagine how important these connections are when you're so many miles from home.

Writing to Children Across the Sea

     I have another great website to share with you.  This one also comes courtesy of my fellow blogger Eric Winger.  It's called Post Pals and it allows you to connect and become pen pals with seriously ill children.  Let me explain more about it and how I used it today.

     The site was started by two young women in England who have struggled with serious, debilitating illness for many years.  Recognizing how isolating it can be when you're homebound, and seeing how much it meant to receive mail from the outside world, they began this program to facilitate other sick children getting lots of mail.  When you go on the site, you can see pictures and read the stories of the children.  Then you can select one or more to write letters or e-mails to.  For privacy and safety, the addresses are forwarding ones, not the actual addresses of the children.  It's amazing to read the stories and also to read accounts of how much it means to them to receive mail.

     I selected one particular 6-year old boy who suffers from a serious case of leukemia.  Since there was a way to e-mail, I figured I'd do that first since he would receive my message so much faster that way.  I sent him off a nice message introducing myself, telling him a little about my family, and asking him some questions.  The site gives lots of information about his interests so it was easy to make relevant conversation.

     I've said it before, but I continue to be amazed at the power of the internet to allow people to connect with, help, and support each other in ways that would otherwise be impossible.  What a great way to share kindness.

     As a follow-up to a similar post from a few days ago (Connecting Helpers Across the Globe), I heard back from the kindergarten teacher for whom I had created the flashcards with sound.  She was so excited to get them and was eager to share them with her students.  It's amazing to think that I'll probably never meet her, and yet I was able to help her out in a very practical and meaningful way.