Stand with Samai! #SamaiStrong

Samai, has recently been diagnosed with leukemia. She is a beautiful little girl in second grade at Calvary Chapel Academy in Melbourne Florida. As you can imagine, the financial burden of taking time off of work to be there for your family is insurmountable. We are looking for a worldwide village to step in to stand with Samai.

Due to the amount of days she will miss in her class this year, Samai’s father shared information with me recently about a program called “Monkey In My Chair” for situations just like this one.  It is a program that helps cancer patients stay connected to their classmates. The following is copied directly from their website:

 

Along with the diagnosis of a serious illness comes time away from school. Whether it is only a day here and there or maybe weeks or months at a time, this can be hard for the child and their classmates.

Through the program, each child who is going through cancer is provided with a "monkey kit" which includes a big stuffed monkey that takes their place in school when they are unable to be there. The kits include the monkey with a backpack, a book to help teachers explain to students the situation their classmate is facing and how it affects them, teacher companion guide, along with other items that can be utilized by the child and/or their classmates. All kits are sent out at no cost to the families or hospitals.

In addition to each "Monkey Kit," each class will be given online access to Monkey Message. Monkey Message is an online component that allows the sharing of pictures and documents to ensure the line of communication stays open between the patient and the classroom. Included in the Monkey Message portal are regular educational activities for the classroom and patients to do that help to foster interaction of students while incorporating key educational tools.

I want to thank you all for the time in reading this and we prayerfully hope you will be able to help take some of the financial burden off of this family while they journey through a season of life they never thought they would have to.