From our family to yours

This page is set up for those that asked to participate in our efforts to support the families in the ICU (aka PICU) at BC Children's Hospital and the NICU down the hall at Women's Hospital. 

If you make a contribution, your name will be added to a card attached a future delivery - specifically the delivery that contains the food your money purchased.  This way, your intentions and generosity are carried forward directly to the families. 


The back story....

Ever since we were first admitted to BC Children's Hospital, when Grayson was just 3 days old, we knew that we wanted to give back to this amazing place. Over the last few years we have participated in telethons, speaking engagements, photo shoots and video segments, but there was one thing that we never got around to doing until now...

We can tell you from experience that it's easy to neglect yourself when your child's health is at risk. You don't sleep, you nap. You don't eat, you nibble on whatever is available and drink copious amounts of coffee. That said, we had so much support from friends and family that food was always plentiful, so much so, that we started putting it out communally for all the ICU families to share in. The shared food was always very well received by these other parents, and we thought, "we should keep this going". (Keep in mind that almost 40% of the children in the province reside outside the Lower Mainland, which means the parents are in a new setting during one of the most stressful times of their lives. Added to that, they may have been medevaced in with their child and had no time to grab a change of clothes or even a toothbrush.)

In April of this 2015, we were back in ICU. Again, the food showed up and again, we shared it and again we thought, "we should keep this going", but of course life gets busy and we just never seemed to have to the time to focus on it.

Then, in the summer of 2015, our story was featured at the Costco golf charity tournament. Chad's speech must have resonated with the attendees as the winners of the gift cards all proceeded to hand them over to us, totaling $1,900. This kind gesture was the exact kick in the pants we needed to implement a food box program for the ICU families.

So as of now, we will be dropping off a box twice per week the to both the PICU and NICU.  Twice per month we prepare a box from us, and the rest of the time it's from the donations made from this GoFundMe page. 

Each box is filled with non-perishable snacks. There are two cards attached to the box. The first one says:

"We know all too well that when your child is in the ICU, your world becomes very small. As you focus all your attention on the well-being of your child, you start to skip out on the things that sustain you. You skip meals because you don’t want to leave your child’s bedside. When you do eat, it’s just a quick coffee and a bite of whatever is handy and close. In this stressful time, we wanted to make sure that you have a way to stay nourished so you can continue to be there for your child. Please help yourself to the food in this basket!"

Behind that card is our story - we never miss an opportunity to raise awareness for Maple Syrup Urine Disease (MSUD).

The amazing writing on the boxes was done by Amanda Arneill (https://instagram.com/amandaarneill/) whose daughter has had open heart surgery twice at BC Children's. This is a family that knows the ICU well and generously gives back.

FACT: The province's only full-service hospital dedicated to serving children in BC and the Yukon, BC Children's Hospital is accessible to the largest population of children and youth served by a single Canadian hospital. Last year, BC Children's Hospital had over 212,000 patient visits.