Jason Hicks
Blog post by Jason Hicks
COO, Chelsea Hicks Foundation
Asst Store Manager, Walmart #3097
As the weather gets sunny, it seems as if everyone wants to go outdoors to play sports or work in their yards. It’s wonderful to smell the fresh air or even travel somewhere exciting.
When you have a child with a serious illness, it’s just not that simple. They can be hospitalized for days, weeks or months at a time with limited ability to go outside. They may have a large window in their room, but it’s just not the same. Crafts and imaginative play become a BIG factor in how you spend the hours each day… trying to put a smile on your child’s face, or even to get them to giggle at anything. When Chelsea was hospitalized we would “sneak” outside when her treatments were especially difficult (with the Doctor’s permission of course) just to get a breath of fresh air. Chelsea always made a point of dressing up in some fashion for these special trips, requesting that I don a tiara, pirate bandana or carry her wand. We would only have a few minutes outside and even if she was too exhausted to do more than ride in the radio flyer wagon, at least it was a minute her face could feel the warmth of the sunshine. Back inside, we would work on crafts to decorate the big window in her hospital room. Large paper flowers, paper butterflies and other silly designs. It was great fun and she would use the markers to brightly decorate her fingernails, too. It’s the little things that help you through treatment… and a big reason why we started the Chelsea Hicks Foundation. We knew firsthand how dressing up put a smile on Chelsea’s face and how fun it was to hear her “whisper” (in a not-so-quiet 4 year old voice) as she snuck past the nurses’ station: “You can’t see me, I’m sneaking out!”
Please join us in helping children going through treatments for serious illnesses. Please considering donating a new superhero cape, tiara or wand. Or, donate art supplies like washable markers, crayons, art canvases and paint brushes. Even spring-themed crafts are wonderful. Each year we serve more than 1,500 children and their families at Randall Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel and Doernbecher Children’s Hospital – and the need to lift their spirits grows greater the longer they remain hospitalized. A patient craft bag costs CHF roughly $10. Consider joining our monthly coffee club to provide children with these crafts when they need to bring the outside in. Let’s SPRING into action for these amazing kiddos in the fight of their lives!
~ Jason Hicks
Daddy to Chelsea, Courtney and Madison
