Made with FlowPaper - Flipbook Maker
Y o u r n i t y - g r i t y g u i d e t o H o p e K i d s Welcome bookletOur Vision We exist to restore hope and transform the livesof children with life-threatening medical conditions, their families and the communities in which we serve. Our Mission HopeKids provides ongoing events, activities and a powerful, unique support community for families who have a child with cancer or some other life- threatening medical condition. We surround these remarkable children and their families with the message thathope is a powerful medicine.Our Guiding Principles Our vision, mission and motivation are driven by our desire to serve in the name of Jesus Christ in response to and out of our gratitude to God. (Colossians 3:17) It is through God’s love and the eternal hope we find in Jesus that we want to love and offer hope to those in need. We cling to the promise that “Hope does not disappoint.” (Romans 5:5) We also believe that hope comes from God, and provides joy and peace in a way that nothing else can. These biblical truths form our belief that hope is a powerful medicine, and all our activities, resources, and time are to be directed to restoring hope for the future to the children and families we serve. We strive to promote integrity, honesty, and openness in the manner in which we conduct our daily financial and management operations. We will be good stewards of all resources that God has blessed us with. The HopeKids program is open to all children with life-threatening medical conditions and their families without regard to background, ethnicity, gender, religion, race, or sexual orientation. www.HopeKids.orgWe’re here to serve your family through a calendar of free events and hope that you find community in our program. Please review the key items included in this handbook to learn how to get the most out of your HopeKids experience. We look forward to meeting you at an event soon. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions. Welcome to HopeKids Chapter Staff Have a question about an event? Last minute emergency? Contact the executive director, program manager or family and community manager for your chapter. Their contact information can be found under the contact link at www.hopekids.org or on the home page of community.hopekids.org Local Chapter Contacts These individuals are your event lifeline. Add their information to your cell phone and call if you have event emergencies. • Our Chapters • Arizona Colorado Kansas City Middle Tennessee Minnesota North Carolina North TexasHopeKids Arizona PrayerWarriorsAZ@hopekids.org HopeKids Colorado PrayerWarriorsCO@hopekids.org HopeKids Kansas City PrayerWarriorsKC@hopekids.org HopeKids Middle Tennessee PrayerWarriorsTN@hopekids.org In a world buried in phones, newsfeeds and social media, HopeKids believes in the power of a hand- written “thanks”. Included in your welcome pack are several note cards with envelopes to send to event partners and sponsors. A HopeKids staff member will email you the name and contact information of the sponsor or event partner after each event. It is important that you or your child please send a thank you note to the sponsor or event partner for providing the event. These notes help build lasting relationships to ensure future donations. Hand-drawn pictures from your child are always welcome as well. Please use your own stationery after the enclosed are used. Our wonderful group of volunteer prayer warriors love to pray for HopeKids families. If you’re interested in joining the prayer email list, please email your chapter’s contact below. You are welcome to submit a prayer request or join in praying for other families’ requests. HopeKids Minnesota PrayerWarriorsMN@hopekids.org HopeKids North Carolina PrayerWarriorsNC@hopekids.org HopeKids North Texas PrayerWarriorsNTX@hopekids.org the importance of thank you of Americans wish people said “thank you” to them more often. 77% 30% regret not saying thank you to someone in the past week. the power of prayerFamily Forum HopeKids maintains a closed Facebook group, open only to HopeKids families. These groups are open to any parent or guardian enrolled in HopeKids and offers you the opportunity to connect with other families through social media. We want to make this a safe place where you can post questions or comments related to your child’s special situation. From time to time, we will also post last minute event information or special opportunities as well as useful resources. To join the group in your area, log in to Facebook, navigate to the link below, and select “join” in the upper, right-hand corner of the group page. Your request to join will be approved within two business days. Again, this group is closed, which means only HopeKids parents and guardians can join. www.facebook.com/HopeKidsInc/groups “HopeKids helped me to get the emotional support that I needed during the most difficult time of my life so that I could, in turn, be strong for my children.” Community and Supportive Relationships Social support is critical to a healthy life, especially when facing a child’s life-threatening illness. In the midst of treatment, it is easy for families to become isolated, overwhelmed, and sometimes disconnected from their main sources of friendship and support. It is essential for families to meet others and broaden their networks with people who “get it”. We want our program to draw your family together with others who “get it”. We hope you will use our unique, supportive and recreational environment to connect to, share with and encourage other families. Events are planned to foster lasting friendships and support among people who share similar challenges. Our families report that nothing is more powerful than one sick child meeting another who has recovered from the same condition. We don’t want any HopeKids families to be alone on this difficult journey. “Every time we go to a HopeKids event I walk away with a new friend and don’t feel so alone on this journey!” finding community1 The Website The More You Know •All events are open to the entire immediate family (unless otherwise noted in the event description), which means that even if your HopeKid is unable to attend an event, siblings or parents can still attend. Occasionally, events will also be open to extended family or friends. Please read the event description to determine attendance eligibility. •Not everyone’s calendar is the same to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to attend events. Specific invites to events may be available based on diagnoses, rewards or attendance records. Register for events, find resources and connect with others at community.hopekids.org. Log in using the email and password created during program registration. 3 The resources tab contains a directory that allows you to search for a family or HopeKid by name. You can also search for HopeKids by condition and locate families that live near you. Only families who opt-in to sharing their information are listed. Use the account tab to update your email, password, phone, address and event notification preferences. The resources tab provides useful links to other organizations which you may find beneficial. All event pictures are posted on the HopeKids SmugMug account accessible through the resources tab. You are welcome to download any pictures. Password is: somanypictures 54 The events tab lists all of the fun, free events to which your family is invited! 2 Hope is a powerful medicine.1 If any person who will be attending the event is displaying symptoms such as coughs, colds, flu, or viruses, please cancel their registration and inform one of your local HopeKids staff members. All attendees should be free from symptoms or fever for a minimum of 24 hours before participating in any of our events. 2 In situations where a single parent requires extra assistance or when only one parent is able to attend, families have the option to register an additional adult helper as a designated “2nd parent.” This provision is intended to support families and ensure that our events are accessible and enjoyable for all. 3 We understand that certain families may need the support of a Personal Care Assistant (PCA), a qualified medical professional responsible for providing necessary nursing care and dedicated one-on-one assistance to a HopeKid. Should your child require the presence of a PCA during HopeKids events, kindly reach out to your local chapter to provide documentation that verifies your child’s need for PCA support. Upon successful verification, your approved PCA will be permitted to participate in events categorized as “Immediate Family Only”. 4 “Immediate Family Only” is defined as father and mother (including step-parents) or legal guardians of the HopeKid. Brothers and sisters of the HopeKid. Any other child (i.e. step- sibling, half-sibling, foster child) that is in legal custody or their full-time care is entrusted to the parents/guardians and is living under their roof. 5 In cases where both parents are unable to attend a HopeKids event and wish to designate another responsible adult supervisor for their children, we invite you to register the adult supervisor(s) as either (or both) of the parents. We’ve compiled the best tips to get rid of the guess work because we’re helpful like that. Useful Event Info6 With limited exceptions, HopeKids siblings are invited to all events, regardless of the HopeKid’s attendance. 7 Maintaining up-to-date event and waitlist registrations is VERY IMPORTANT. If your availability changes after registering for an activity or a waitlist, you MUST cancel your registration within 48 hours of the event to avoid a negative impact to your attendance record. 8 When attending a HopeKids event, we expect everyone to conduct themselves in a polite and respectful manner toward all HopeKids families in attendance, venue staff, event donors, and any general public that may be present. As a participant at a HopeKids event you are a representative of HopeKids and are the recipient of other people’s generosity— and we expect a courteous attitude. Restrictions: If a family fails to show for any event in which they have registered to attend (considered a “no-show”), they will be placed on a restriction. Restrictions are enforced for one month and will be put into effect two months following a no-show. For example, if a family no-shows for an event in January, the family will be restricted from attending all HopeKids events during the month of March. If a no-show occurs in May, the restriction will be in place for the month of July and so on. It is the family’s responsibility to ensure they read all event details very carefully and fully understand where the location is, how the event registration will be taken, and how tickets will be distributed, if applicable (e.g. meeting a volunteer, e-tickets, tickets being mailed, or picking up tickets from will call). It is the responsibility of the family to ensure their name is marked as having attended the event when attendance is being taken. No, really. This one’s important.Next >