Local Elementary School Students Spend the Day Volunteering to Help Child Cancer Patients
5^th Graders from Hershey Christian School Pack Toys at Children’s Cancer Recovery

HARRISBURG, Penn., March 27, 2013 — A dozen 5^th grade students from Hershey Christian School spent a recent afternoon packing more than 4,500 toys that were to be sent across the country to childhood cancer patients. Through the local nonprofit organization Children’s Cancer Recovery Foundation, the donated toys will benefit more than 1,800 patients at 32 hospitals.

Ms. Cheryl Caldwell, fifth grade teacher at Hershey Christian, annually brings her students to the Harrisburg headquarters to demonstrate the value of volunteerism. “I have had family members who have had cancer before and I know what it can do to a family,” she said, adding that she gets a great response from her students as well. “Each year the kids love it. They love coming here and helping and we always have a blast. We feel like we are blessing the families that receive the gifts.”

Children’s Cancer Recovery Foundation, through its Bear-Able Gifts program, provides stuffed animals, toys and board games to children across the country fighting the disease. The foundation’s dedicated staff is grateful to the community volunteers who help the foundation continue to serve patients across the country.

“Seeing the great volunteers who come through our doors is very inspiring,” said Children’s Cancer Recovery Foundation founder Greg Anderson. “And to see these fifth grade students get started and exposed to it at an early age is a refreshing sight.”

In 2012, Children’s Cancer Recovery Foundation packaged and delivered over 33,000 toys to children battling cancer across the country through its Bear-Able Gifts program. To learn more about the foundation, its programs or how you can help, visit ChildrensCancerRecovery.org.

About Children’s Cancer Recovery Foundation
Children’s Cancer Recovery Foundation is the largest distributor of gifts to children with cancer in North America.  The Foundation also provides emergency financial services through its Helping Hands Fund.  A camp scholarship program provides post-treatment activities with offices in five countries and a pediatric hospital partner network of over 220 locations, each year the Foundation directly services over 50,000 children and family members who are impacted by childhood cancer.

The Foundation assists children under the age of 18 and their families from all ethnicities and income levels. Currently, the organization is affiliated with over 200 children’s hospitals and oncology centers in 49 states; offering programs and services to any child receiving treatment at those facilities. In 2012, over 13,600 children and their families in the U.S. were served through our programs!

Our programs allow children to “just be a kid again” while helping to relieve the financial stresses their families often experience. The overriding goal of the programs is to provide a “gift with a lift” to the human spirit.

Bear-Able Gifts
Cancer is depressing to both children and their families. Through generous donations of gifts, the Foundation provides many of the things to hospitals that children and teens love – board games, hand-held games, dolls, cards, coloring books, crayons, markers, cars, trucks, puzzles, stuffed animals… all sorts of gifts that make them smile and take their minds off cancer treatment. This year, the Foundation shipped gifts and toys to 13,325 children battling cancer.

Here’s what it took to send out last year’s shipments: 235 volunteers packing 459 boxes that took 129 total hours!

Helping Hands Fund
Cancer is expensive; in many ways. Through our emergency intervention assistance programs we try to help prevent cancer from being financially devastating to families. Children’s Cancer Recovery Foundation helps families in need by assisting with rent eviction and utility bill shut off notices. This Year, the Foundation provided $60,000 in financial assistance.

Camp Scholarships
Cancer isolates a child from the simple joys of their childhood; play, laughter and the wonderment of life. Through our camp scholarship program, those in treatment can be free to be a child – just one of the gang! Children’s Cancer Recovery Foundation provided $6,735 in scholarship assistance last year, helping children to experience therapeutic riding, music, art, skiing and other types of camps and activities.

International Relief
Children’s Cancer Recovery Foundation is committed to supporting children around the world with their cancer journey. To that end, the Foundation makes a substantial gift of medical supplies and medicines each year to a developing country. Previous countries receiving aid have included Vietnam, Liberia, Kenya and Guatemala.

Children’s Cancer Recovery Foundation strives to touch the lives of children living with cancer with a positive, uplifting message. To our supporters, thank you. We could not have done it without you. To those who have utilized our services, we hope that our message has inspired you to not only survive, but thrive.

Our 2012 toy drive proved to be a great one! On December 6^th, together with WINK 104, CCRF hosted the 2012 Holiday Toy Drive at two Ollie’s Bargain Outlet locations in central Pennsylvania.  Between the two locations we collected a record-setting 2,500 toys!

WGAL’s Anne Shannon started our day with a live on-site interview with Kelly Myers, Events Manager, to discuss the toy drive and how to help.

In 2012, CCRF was able to support over 13,000 children and their families battling a cancer diagnosis.  We could not serve these children without the generous support of the general public.

We met with Dan Haines, Ollie’s Vice President of Marketing & Advertising, and presented him with a token of our appreciation for allowing us to be at Ollie’s store locations in Harrisburg and Mechanicsburg, PA.

As we look ahead to 2013 we are already working with Ollie’s on ways to set a new record.  We anticipate sending toys to over 14,000 children this year.  Find out how you or your organization can get involved by sponsoring a toy drive of your own!

We would like to extend a huge thanks to WINK 104, Ollie’s Bargain Outlet and WGAL for the tremendous support in 2012.