RE-Energized for the New Year

So it’s been a few weeks (the entire holiday season!) since I’ve written a post – we had a pretty busy fall and I needed to take a break. Step back. Evaluate what we accomplished. Think about what we could improve. Identify new opportunities. And also become re-motivated and re-energized for this new year. Our primary goals are the same.

I hope to continue pushing Ben’s Toy Closet, the giving program where we gift adapted toys and switches to kids with motor impairment. I intend to expand our reach and get new toys to new kids! And have reached out to local media to promote our message and mission to help us do just that.

I hope to identify new event opportunities such as the first annual Ben’s Bowl-A-Thon coming up on March 11 at St Charles Bowl. This will be a fun family-friendly bowling event with food, raffles and prizes. You can find more information here. And if you’re able to donate a raffle prize, click here. That would be awesome and much appreciated!

I’d like to get more service groups together and get out in the community like we did with the dinner service at Ronald McDonald House. You can expect to see another one of these this spring/summer, but at the Winfield location so it’s more convenient!

I’m also working on some more exciting things for this year! And hopefully will have an announcement soon as it becomes more final.

The bottom line – I want to continue to support families with kids who are like Ben was. I want to continue to do acts of service in his name, and represent him well. I’d like to provide monetary donations to organizations that supported us in Ben’s journey. I’d like to re-engage with the community and increase volunteer involvement in our events/initiatives ... growing Ben's Team!

Thank you all for your support last year. And here's to a strong 2018!

Elizabeth G

Being Thankful

Entering this time of year is hard for me -- Once Halloween is here, life rolls on through Thanksgiving and then right into the Christmas season without even slowing down. Last year happened to be our ‘year of firsts’…the first birthday, the first Halloween, the first Thanksgiving…all without my beautiful Ben. So this year, I kind of know what to expect.

Last Thanksgiving 2016 probably hit me the hardest because it landed on the actual day that Ben came home from the NICU back in 2012. November 24. It completely knocked the wind out of me when I saw my Facebook memory “on this day” and how we were celebrating Ben’s departure from the hospital. He  was well enough and strong enough to come home to live with us on that day. I ending up writing a post about how we should all remember to be thankful for what we have – thankful that he was my son, that we had him on Earth for almost four years, thankful he brought certain people and communities into our lives.

So this year, instead of wallowing in my grief (which I could easily do every day by the way), I still find myself feeling thankful.

My two sidekicks ... may they always be as excited and enthusiastic about Ben Smiles as they are now. 

And this month has highlighted our mission of giving back, spreading positivity and giving gifts and hopefully creating some smiles along the way. We started with a dinner night at Ronald McDonald House in Chicago. Then we delivered gift bags to be distributed to kids in the hospital at Central Dupage Hospital. We participated in an Adapt a Toy event at Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital. We (as a family) took sweet treats to the Pediatrics/PICU nurses/doctors on Thanksgiving.

Then the final event this month was another Adapt A Toy in partner with Kmart and Easter Seals, allowing us to give new adapted toys and switches to eight children and their families. Every event or appearance we do allows me to talk about Ben, show off his photos/beautiful smile, connect with others that are like him and share a bit about his story. Today was no different.

I met and chatted with some really wonderful parents. I connected with a couple of additional moms with special kids who just happened to be shopping at Kmart, wondering what we were doing. Some shoppers were curious about switch toys, how they work, and why they are needed. I had a man so generously hand me a few dollars as a donation, after he ate one of the free sandwiches…hey, whatever it takes! It was a really good day.  

Jack and Lola are buddies at Easter Seals. 

This sweet one Precious holds a special place in my heart as she was the first toy recipient from Ben’s Toy Closet. 

Abby with her brand new Moana doll!  

Dinner brings meaningful service to the Ronald McDonald House

We took a group down to Ronald McDonald House in Chicago to provide, prepare and serve dinner for families. RMH is a “home-away-from-home” for families so they can stay close by their hospitalized child at little or no cost. We had the opportunity to stay there when Ben was at Lurie Children's Hospital the last time - it really was a blessing to be within a few blocks from the hospital. The facility is welcoming, comfortable and can be treated as if it's home. 

It was a nice touch to the week - we got to serve about 50 people and I got to chat with a few families about their kids and what thye are going through. We had a few ask about Ben Smiles so I was able to share a little about our story. And ... I could tell who was a NICU family by the all-too-familiar gold parent bracelets. At one point in time, I wore THREE of them back in 2012!

We had a great group of friends and family who volunteered with our group. Thank you to all who helped out - Amy, Susannah, Alex, Julie and Abby, Rob, Colin & Ava. 

Busy November!

So, I’m just slightly stressed (and blessed!) with all of the Ben Smiles initiatives going on this month. It’s turned into a month of service and giving to others, which I think is appropriate given Thanksgiving is coming up. Here is just a snapshot of what we are doing:

Ronald McDonald House dinner service – Wednesday November 15.

We were able to stay at Ronald McDonald House in Chicago during Ben’s last stay at Lurie Children’s Hospital, so I wanted to find a way we could support them this year. They have a Meals from the Heart program where they have volunteer groups come in a provide/prepare a dinner for those families staying there. We signed up for the only open day they had this year … Wednesday November 15. We’re preparing a picnic theme … ham/turkey burger bar, chicken, baked beans, potato salad, fruit, chips, desserts. This will be a fun one.

Two Adapt A Toy Events – November 18 and November 25

November 18 – Ben Smiles will be at Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital in Winfield, participating in their annual Adapt a Toy event. There will be modifiers on hand adapting toys on site. Activation switches will also be available. There will event be a gift-wrapping station where families can even have their toy wrapped so it’s ready to go under the tree! It’s a great time for kids and families – a couple of years ago, we were at this event with Ben and it’s great to see the toys getting adapted. It’s such a treat for families and they get a new toy for their special child! Pre-registration is requested.

November 25 – Ben Smiles is partnering with Kmart, Easter Seals and School Health on this first ever adapting event at a Kmart. Easter Seals is inviting families and clients to this special event to receive a toy.

Thanksgiving Gift Bags for Pediatric ICU at CDH – we have received several great donations for this effort. Ben was a PICU patient more times than I care to count (9 total in 17 months) … that we wanted to give back and thought this would be a great time of year. Not all kids make it home in time for the holidays, so I thought a special gift bag full of activity books, playdoh, blocks, legos, gift cards for the parents, might be a nice distraction to help them pass the time. I’ll be dropping these off the week of Thanksgiving.

PlayItForward Kids event – I was contacted by the local Play It Forward Kids group offering to support Ben Smiles at their monthly event. They heard about our gift bag initiative and wanted to provide treat bags and homemade get well soon cards. There was a great turn out and I loved seeing all the young kids so involved and there to ‘do good’ and give back to their community. Thank You PlayITForward! You helped put a special personal touch on the PICU bags!

Whew! That’s a lot for one month … still a lot of planning and preparing for the next couple of weeks. Right now, I’m headed to Costco to shop for the RMH dinner! Wish us luck! There will be more events in the near future. Keep checking back and email me if you want to become involved!