I came upon these recently, and wanted to share.
Free music! Songs of Love is a foundation that provides personalized songs for kids and teens facing medical or emotional challenges. You fill out an online profile of your child, and about a month or so later a CD arrives in the mail with the finished song. We just got one for Max that's very boppy and all about his love of transportation; we play it in the car and he loves it.
Free professional photos! The Littlest Heroes Project is a group of good-willed photographers who offer free photo sessions to kids with disabilities and serious illnesses. I filled out an online application, got approved and now I just have to choose a local affiliated photographer and pick a date. Hard to resist—professional photos of Max make me giddy.
If you've found any good services for kids with challenges, let the rest of us know!
As a professional photographer I'd prefer you buy photos of Max.. But groups such as this serve a great cause... Two groups I also like are the American Child Photographers Charity Guild, who provide photos for terminally ill children - www.acpcg.com and Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep, baby bereavement photography - www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org for the littlest angels.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the Littlest Heroes Project, Ellen, I'll add it to my list.
Wow, Ellen, thanks for those links. I had heard of the song one, but the pictures one is news to me!
ReplyDeleteSongs Of Love made a song for Daniel, too - it's so sweet! I've also heard of Littlest Heroes and got to set up a photo shoot with them, but we had to cancel due to schedule conflicts. Anyway, I think Angel Flight is a good one. They provide free flights to children who need medical care.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great links, Ellen! How fun...you made my day! I'm going to go check them out RIGHT NOW :-)
ReplyDeleteDid I happen to mention how glad I am that you're home? Just wonderin...
Kate, I [heart] you. If only you were my boss. :)
ReplyDeleteSome more:
ReplyDeleteCanine Companions for Independence - www.cci.org (Service . Companion Dogs for children)
Challenge Air, free FUN flights for disabled kids... - http://challengeair.com
Miracle Flights for Kids, free / low cost MEDICAL flights for kids (like to a hospital)... - www.miracleflights.org
We've gotten both of these things for Daniel. The photos we got were beautiful, it was a wonderful experience.
ReplyDeleteAlso, we were lucky enough to get Daniel a wish for terminal or life threatening illness through The Rainbow Connection (Michigan based) and he was able to pick his wish.
We have an appointment on Thurs with the Littlest Hero project!
ReplyDeletethanks for sharing those links! I signed up with the Littlest Heroes Project a few months ago but haven't heard anything yet.
ReplyDeleteThat CD sounds interesting - have bookmarked it so I can check in to it later!
Love the CD offer -- I'll sign up for one as soon as I post here!
ReplyDeleteBut this is probably going to be a life-changing post for me and my family because of the comments. Rich, thank you so much for posting about the Canine Companions program.
Although DS wouldn't qualify for a dog through their program (they don't train dogs to assist with balance/mobility issues), it's something that I've thought about for a long time, and this comment gave me the inspiration to look into it seriously.
DS's balance is very precarious. He falls 1 or more times a day even with no obstacles, walking on a flat surface, and it's extremely frustrating to him. It makes him very frustrated & he cries.
It's worse at school or around other kids, though, because he can fall down with the slightest touch.
Anyway, I'd thought about it for a long time, but reading about the Canine Companion program really inspired me to look into other programs (they do exist) that can help with balance issues.
I'll post back if I find any that may be of interest to others.
Ellen, thanks for providing this forum!