How to help!!

Okay, all Dallas-area friends I have a need and I am asking for your help. So many people have asked us how they can help and although there is not a ton you can do for us, there is something small, but wonderful you can do for the hospital that we have come to love so much....

At Baylor there is a little treasure of a hospital named Our Children's House. If you have been to Baylor hospital downtown you have probably never even noticed the large Victorian-style house on the corner of Hall and Swiss. It goes quietly unnoticed, but so many wonderful things do go on inside. It was started in 1993 to be a "technologically-advanced hospital in a home-like environment that provides coordinated, comprehensive services to children with special health care needs." They have babies and children on vents, severely injured children trying to rehabilitate with intensive therapy, babies and toddlers with major feeding issues, and many spinal cord and brain injury patients. They also have an awesome outpatient therapy program where we do all of our occupational, physical and speech therapy.

Anyways, while we Maggie was a patient I asked the Child Life specialists what their needs were because I know my resourceful and willing friends would want to help.  I was told of three needs they have:

1. Stuffed Animals - The Child Life staff gives each child that comes in a stuffed animal and currently they are really running low. For example, many children come in for dental surgery (at like two years old!) because their parents didn't care for their teeth or what they ate. These children, many of whom have may never been to a doctor or dentist, are terrified of course, they are given a stuffed animal to comfort them while they are patients. Furthermore, there are many children who do not have families that visit for various reasons - perhaps they are full-time working single parents or maybe they were taken away from their families by Child Protective Services because of dangerous circumstances and so it is nice if they get a toy or something of comfort to take with them wherever they may go after their hospital stay (many will go to foster care). Anyway, I know that I have a ton of stuffed animals never used by Mary Lawrence up in my attic so I know other moms must, too. And I thought this would be a fun way to clean out your toys and know that they are going to a good cause!

2. DVD players, Game systems - While we were at the hospital, the staff offered to bring in a DVD player to hook up to the DVD so Mary Lawrence could watch some movies. They tried two different DVD players and two different Playstations and all four were broken! So if you have a DVD player with a remote or an old game system your husband doesn't want anymore with games, they'll love those, too! Many of these children don't get out of the bed so this is a great way for them to have some entertainment. They only have a few for the whole floor so they definitely could use some more.

3. DVDs - If you have any extra DVDs you don't want for children or adults (parents need distractions, too!) or want to pick one up out of the $5 bin at Target this week that would also be much appreciated.

If you have any of these things and want to drop them off at my house, please do anytime this week or next. Someone will be here all day and, if not, leave on the front porch, and someone will be home shortly. If you don't know my address send me an email or facebook message and I will let you know. And if you can't stop by my house, I will come to your house and pick up anything - just let me know!  And if you are out of town and want to send some stuffed animals or DVDs in the mail I'd love that, too!

Thanks so much for helping us give back to a place that has helped us so much!