Navigating childhood can be difficult enough. Doing so while also battling cancer can be daunting for most children.
Attendees at this year’s National Settlement Services Summit (NS3) in Naples, Fla., sought to ease that tremendous burden. During the 10th annual “Make a Child Smile” community service event, sponsored by Qualia, conference attendees compiled Bags Full of Sunshine for The Sunshine Kids Foundation.
September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. The bags contained both needed and fun items to children in the area with cancer. The bags were presented to The Sunshine Kids Foundation Wednesday at NS3, which is being held at the Naples Grande Beach Resort.
“NS3 is about bringing together industry participants to learn, collaborate and educate,” October Research, LLC CEO and Publisher Erica Meyer said. “But it’s also about making our presence known in the communities in which we live and work. I’m thankful Qualia and our attendees have partnered with us to help children battling cancer in the Naples area.”
The Sunshine Kids Foundation strives to improve the quality of life of children with cancer by providing them with positive group activities so they can have fun and celebrate life.
“We are honored to support efforts to bring positivity to the local community during this year’s NS3 Summit. We look forward to filling Bags Full of Sunshine alongside our customers and the broader industry for young cancer patients who benefit from The Sunshine Kids Foundation and its incredible programs,” said Bryan Buus, president, Resware.
At the start of the pandemic, The Sunshine Kids as an organization was not able to continue hosting in-person events, especially within the demographic of the children it serves. One of the things the foundation did was start creating “hospital boxes” to children.
“Sunshine Kids Foundation is very appreciative of the wonderful bags we received full of arts, crafts, and all type of goodies for our local kids in the hospital for both in-patient and outpatient,” Senior Program Manager Janet Yon said. “These bags will bring hours of fun and enjoyment while the kids are doing their treatments and we are very excited to present them for September Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Thank you so much for your wonderful support to Sunshine Kids and helping bring a smile during a difficult time.”
Previous community service organizations participating in the Make a Child Smile event include the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan, Texas Foster Care and Adoption Services, Charlotte Ronald McDonald House Charities, Atlanta Ronald McDonald House Charities, The St. Bernard Project, Toys for Tots and Ohio Guidestone.