Boston Children's Hospital Creative Finn Kits

Meggie O’Neal is organizing this fundraiser.

Donation protected

Hi,

My name is Meggie, and my partner James and I, are honored to share the story of our sweet Finn.

Our beautiful son, Finn, was recently a patient of Boston Children’s hospital very soon after his birth. Finn was born with a congenital heart defect and was born early at 34 weeks. The fear and stress that surrounded our time in the hospital with Finn, were assuaged by his tight finger squeezes, little squeaks, and the enormity of the love we felt for him. As Finn underwent many surgeries to repair his heart, James and I spent every moment we could by his bed, reading him books, singing songs, and making memories. These moments with Finn are times we will always cherish because these are the moments we have. Sadly, after giving all he could and fighting through each new obstacle that was thrown at him, Finn passed away at 10 days old.

Through all the grief and sadnesses of losing our baby, we will forever be grateful to Finn for making us his parents and for opening our eyes to the challenges that some families face over the course of their child’s life.

Child illness can leave children spending most of their lives going in and out of the hospital; testing an experimental treatment, undergoing and recovering from surgeries, or receiving ongoing care. We understand how emotional and stressful this is for parents and families and how hard this is for kids just wanting to be kids.

Over the past few months, with inspiration from our sweet Finn, we have been making creative activity kits for children in the Cardiac ICU of Boston Children’s Hospital. With the help and guidance from the amazing Childlife Specialists of the unit, we have made bracelet making kits, creative playdough kits and pottery painting kits. The childlife staff are able to use these kits as bonding, learning and creative time with families and their child, and can help decide which kit is best for which age and ability.

We call them “Finn kits”!

The feedback from the children in the unit on the kits has been wonderful, and the Childlife specialists have attested to the need for more of these creative kits on an ongoing basis.

These donations to Boston Children's Hospital started with an amazing children’s book called "Feeling Grateful". We read this book to Finn many times each day and admired the beautiful photos and inspiring message. After reaching out to Compendium, the publisher of the book, and telling them how special this book was to us, they soon sent a very sweet care package to our family. After a few more emails and an idea to share this book with other families in the hospital, Compendium donated 90 books to the Cardiac ICU of Boston Children's. We are so grateful to Compendium for their kindness and generosity, and this kind gesture left us asking, "What more can we do?".

There's a page in "Feeling Grateful" that says, "Look for a need. Seek out a problem. Give back in a way that is meaningful to you. Be the difference that changes something for the better."

And that's what we plan to do, with our little Finn always in our hearts.

We would love to continue to provide kits for the kids receiving treatment at Boston Children’s Hospital and would love to spread the joy beyond the Cardiac ICU. With your generous and caring donations, we will continue to make creative kits for sick kids so they can just be kids, and they can continue to create fun and happy memories with family and friends (and hospital staff) while receiving treatment in the hospital.

We thank you for reading our story, and for helping a sick child's time in the hospital shine a little brighter.

Stay tuned for our 501 (c) (3) in honor of Finn, that will aim to help the patients and families of Boston Children's Hospital while they navigate the very challenging journey of child illness.