Category Archives: Dedicated to the Cause

Camps, Dedicated to the Cause, Health, Wisconsin

Summer Camps Help Kids Affected By Cancer

Summer is just around the corner and while both kids and parents anxiously await a much-needed vacation, there are a few others who need something more…a break from the heart-wrenching challenges they face every day as a result of a family member who is battling, or who may have lost the battle, with cancer.

Being a mom, there are things I constantly worry about. I worry about something happening to my kids daily, I worry about something happening to me or Alex all the time and hate to ever imagine my kids living a life without me or their dad or ever having to know cancer on a personal level. Unfortunately, there are children, every day, who learn about cancer at a very personal level, and at those times, I am happy to know there are places like Angel on My Shoulder available for them to enjoy to help ease that burden.

Angel On My Shoulder is a registered 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization that has established a number of cost-free camps, both summer and year-round, that were designed to address the needs of young people whose lives have been affected by cancer through the illness or passing of a close family member (parent, sibling, or grandparent).

*New Campers get ready for a weekend of fun at Camp Angel*

Angel On My Shoulder weekend camps are funded through donations, so that everyone who wants to attend may do so. They provide kids with an opportunity to meet others like themselves in a well-supervised atmosphere of understanding.

“When a family is affected by cancer, the focus has to be on the patient. Too often though there are children who are also experiencing loss or confusion,” said Lolly Rose, founder of Angel On My Shoulder. “That’s where Angel On My Shoulder comes in. We’re helping these kids feel good and have fun with others they can relate to; to see their faces light up again is an amazing feeling.”

Angel On My Shoulder offers five different weekend camps for kids who have a close family member who is battling cancer.

Camp Angel is for kids ages 7-12
Camp Teen Angel is for teens ages 13-15
Camp Angel Adventures is for older teens ages 16-18
Camp Angel Adventures Extreme is for 16-18 year olds who want to experience more extreme activities
Camp Hozhoni, is a family camp for families with a child 18 or younger who has cancer.

*Darci Sullivan (far right) enjoys a wet and wild ride at Angel Adventures*

The purpose of the camps is to give kids the chance to meet other kids who are in the same situation and give them the opportunity to participate in activities tailored to their age group that will provide many happy memories.

Summer camps include swimming, kayaking, canoeing and fishing. Winter camps feature snowshoeing, ice fishing, dog-sledding and sleigh rides.

Angel On My Shoulder also sponsors two retreats for adults: Angel Care and Healing Angels. Angel Care is for Cancer Caregivers, and was created with the express purpose of giving cancer caregivers a respite from the often times grueling work of caring for a loved one with cancer. The retreats are held several times a year and provide activities such as yoga and discussion sessions to help these selfless individuals give back to themselves.

*Sharing sessions provide comfort to caregivers at Angel Care retreats*

Healing Angels is for cancer survivors who are in remission. The intent is to provide them with a weekend of mental, physical and spiritual healing that will contribute to their growing sense of well-being.

“I am constantly inspired by the people I meet through Angel On My Shoulder from donors and volunteers to those families whose lives we touch,” added Rose. “This community is quick to lend a hand and help one another and our organization is very thankful for that.”

Learn More

You can learn more about Angel on My Shoulder by watching the video below.

Volunteer

If you would like to learn more about Angel on My Shoulder and the volunteer opportunities available, please check out their website.

Dedicated to the Cause, Holiday, Sponsored Post

Our Old Spice #HoliSPRAY Toy Donation Exchange #SmellcometoManhood

Anne Younger Leave a comment

As you may recall, earlier this month I shared the news that we were working with Old Spice on their HoliSPRAY Toy Donation Exchange to collect toys in our community for Second Chance Toys.

While we were getting ready for our toy exchange here in Green Bay, Old Spice Guy Isaiah Mustafa and Actor Nolan Gould were busy hosting their own Old Spice HoliSPRAY Toy Donation Exchange at Hollywood High School.

Last weekend, over the course of 2 days, we invited people from our community to bring a gently used, plastic toy to our home and thanks to Old Spice, we were able to send them off with some great Old Spice products.

Thanks to the generous people in our community and even my kids, we were able to collect over 50 gently used toys for Second Chance Toys to distribute.

After inspecting all of the toys, cleaning them up and putting new batteries in them, we packed them up and got them ready to donate.

I was really excited to learn that we would be able to give the toys to the Green Bay Head Start center and that we could drop them off ourselves! This made me very happy as the parent of a former Head Start student and former member of the Head Start policy council.

Of course, the folks at Head Start were extremely grateful for the new-to-them toys and I’m sure they will be enjoyed by a lot of kids for years to come!

*Photo courtesy of Green Bay Head Start.*

Even though we had a successful toy drive, we were left with quite a bit of Old Spice product, more than any one home needs, so we thought we would help give back to the community more and we made a large donation of body spray and deodorant to one of our local homeless shelters to help them stock back up on supplies.

I’m so happy that we were able to help our community in more than one way thanks to Old Spice.

Thank you to Old Spice for being so generous and letting us be a part of this program and thank you to Second Chance Toys for finding a way to give back and to give to children in need.

Dedicated to the Cause, Holiday, Sponsored Post

Join Us for the #HoliSPRAY Toy Donation Exchange

Anne Younger Leave a comment

I am excited to announce that we have teamed up with Old Spice for their #HoliSPRAY Toy Donation Exchage to benefit Second Chance Toys.

Second Chance Toys is a non-profit organization dedicated to keeping plastic toys out of landfills by donating them to children in need throughout local communities in the U.S.

The inaugural Old Spice HoliSPRAY Toy Donation Exchange, runs from Dec. 3 through Dec. 15, and encourages moms and dads to donate their children’s gently used plastic toys in exchange for Old Spice Re-fresh Body Spray, the gift that keeps on giving one spray at a time.

We are happy to be hosting a toy donation exchange in our community and can’t wait to kick things off. According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, nearly 14 million children in the U.S. – 22 percent of all children – live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level. This has been a driving force behind Second Change Toys since the organization was established in 2006. In our home, you will find toys scattered throughout our home all day, every day. Toys are what inspire our children to learn, create and imagine and every child should have the opportunity to experience that joy.

Old Spice has recruited actor Nolan Gould of ABC’s acclaimed hit comedy, “Modern Family,” and Old Spice Guy Isaiah Mustafa to act as HoliSPRAY Toy Donation Exchange Ambassadors. On Dec. 10, Gould and Mustafa will host a toy collection event at Hollywood High School in Los Angeles, which will serve as one of many toy collection locations across the U.S. participating in the program.

Please visit us on Facebook for more information on making a donation if you are local to Green Bay.

You can find a list of donation locations throughout the US on the Second Chance Toys website.

Dedicated to the Cause

To All The Skylers Out There

Anne Younger Leave a comment

This is a picture of Skyler, a 14 year-old girl from my area (Green Bay WI) who took her own life last Friday, October 24th.

Skyler was a victim of bullying and couldn’t take the pain anymore and felt no one could help her.

As a mom of a 14 year old girl who is trying so hard to find the place where she fits in, this really hits home for me. I cannot begin to imagine what her family is going through or the pain she was enduring for her to take her own life.

From what I have learned, Skyler was a bright girl who was funny, artistic, loved music and her family.

Please, if you have kids, talk to your children about bullying and how their words and actions can and will hurt others.

You can help Skyler’s family and their fight against bullying by making a donation to the National Bully Prevention Center in Skyler’s name.

Dedicated to the Cause, I'm An Influencer, Sponsored Post

Know the Facts of RSV #RSVAwareness

Anne Younger Leave a comment

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting (#MC) for MedImmune. I received a promotional item as a thank you for participating.

With World Prematurity Day coming up on the 17th of November and winter right around the corner it’s time to talk about RSV and learn the facts, find out the risk RSV has on preemies, learn the symptoms and find out how you can protect your child from RSV.

First off, if you are not familiar with RSV, it is Respiratory Syncytial Virus, a common season virus that is contracted by nearly all children by the age of 2. RSV causes typical mild to moderate cold-like symptoms in healthy, full-term babies. Libby had it as a child and required breathing treatments for about a week and has been fine since.

When our little Ellie was born a month premature and labeled a preemie, in the middle of December, RSV came to mind because preterm infants are born with undeveloped lungs and immature immune systems that put them more at risk to contract RSV and require hospitalization.

RSV infection is more likely to root in premature lungs where developing airways are are narrowed and very fragile and preterm babies also carry fewer virus-fighting antibodies.

Here’s what you need to know about RSV

Key RSV Facts:

RSV occurs in epidemics each year, typically from November through March, though it can vary by geography and year-to-year
RSV disease is the leading cause of hospitalization for babies during their first year of life in the United States, with approximately 125,000 hospitalizations and up to 400 infant deaths each year
RSV disease is responsible for one of every 13 pediatrician visits and one of every 38 trips to the ER in children under the age of five
Despite being so common, many parents aren’t aware of RSV; in fact, one-third of mothers have never heard of the virus

Learn the Symptoms of Severe RSV Disease:

Contact your child’s pediatrician immediately if your child exhibits one or more of the following:

Persistent coughing or wheezing
Bluish color around the mouth or fingernails
Rapid, difficult, or gasping breaths
Fever [especially if it is over 100.4°F (rectal) in infants under 3 months of age]

How Can I Help Protect My Baby From RSV?

RSV is very contagious and can be spread easily through touching, sneezing and coughing. Additionally, the virus can live on the skin and surfaces for hours. There is no treatment for RSV disease once it’s contracted, so prevention is critical. To help minimize the spread of RSV disease, all parents should:

Wash their hands and ask others to do the same
Keep toys, clothes, blanket and sheets clean
Avoid crowds and other young children during RSV season
Never let anyone smoke around your baby
Steer clear of people who are sick or who have recently been sick

Since Ellie was a preemie and born in the middle of winter and just a week before Christmas, it was decided that Ellie would not be traveling and visiting our rather large family for the holidays and instead Alex and I would stay home and enjoy our time with her.

You can learn more about RSV from the infographic belowor visit the RSV Protection website.

[gview file=”http://themegalomaniacmommy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/RSV-Infographic.pdf” height=”1500px” width=”640px”]