Child's Play

Letters to Child's Play

• Last year’s gift from Child’s Play has continued to allow our patients and their families to normalize their hospital experience. Read Full Letter »

  — Jean Brannan, Nemours Fund for Children’s Health Corporate & Foundation Relations Specialist

• Random Acts, the students of The Instituto Libre and the community of San Juan del Sur are incredibly grateful to Child’s Play for awarding a generous grant to the Free High School of San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua.Read Full Letter »

  — Rachel Miner, Executive Director Random Acts

• At Children’s Hospital Colorado, we saw the need for a Gaming and Technology Specialist and knew that in the current state of healthcare, this would be difficult for our hospital to dedicate funding towards...Read Full Letter »

  — Carla Oliver, MSW, CCLS Director Child Life Children’s Hospital Colorado

• It has been an asset for CoRe participants to have access to their own mobile gaming center each session and be able to play video games while acquiring important life skills and making new and positive friends.Read Full Letter »

  — Wilder Heath LMFT, MHP, CMHS,  CoRe Project Lead/Mental Health Therapist Atlantic Street Center

• This has been an exciting year for the iPads for Kids Program. Our partnership with Child’s Play allowed us to think bigger and better than we ever have before.Read Full Letter »

  — Christine Edwards, Senior Foundation Manager Bungie Foundation

• Thank you for blessing Lighthouse with the PS4 and GAEMS case combo. The children in our transitional housing program LOVE IT! Read Full Letter »

  — Sarah Tuttle, Executive Director Lighthouse Family Ministries NW

• The increased gift this year has opened the door to explore opportunities for using virtual reality in our practice.Read Full Letter »

  — Lisa Warner, CFRE

• We are so lucky and grateful to have supportive people like you who care about sick children. I am so grateful and impressed by your generosity and goodwill. Read Full Letter »

  — Renée Ethans, CCLS, Manager, Child Life Department

• One of the special things about our main Playroom is that we offer more games and activities than found on patient wards – it makes it a special place that separates it from their hospital rooms. Read Full Letter »

  — Sherry Treichel, Certified Child Life Specialist, Playroom Supervisor

• Mom said, “I don’t know what we would’ve done without you and these amazing toys and movies. Thank you for helping us!”.Read Full Letter »

  — Rosalie Favreau, Certified Child Life Specialist, Surgical and Burn Unit

• Due to the generous donations through Child’s Play, we have received numerous sound spa machines. These sound machines are used for patients of all ages, from infants to teens.Read Full Letter »

  — Cecilia Bellingham, Certified Music Therapist

• I pray to God every night and ask him to send us an Angel everyday. I ask for hope, I ask for healing, I ask for peace and I ask for joy in our lives. Today you are our Angel.Read Full Letter »

  — Ana B, GGB Parent

• We don't know where we would be without the ongoing and incredibly generous support of Child's Play. Technology is such an important medium for so many of our patients...Read Full Letter »

  — Janet Burke, Child Life and Music Therapy Sydney Children’s Hospital

• The game systems and games provide such an important source of distraction as well as a familiarity in a place that is often unknown to children...Read Full Letter »

  — Winnipeg Child Life Specialist

• The DVDs donated to the Book Corner library have been greatly appreciated by children and their families. Your donation helped the library stock the newest and most popular movies... Read Full Letter »

  — Winnipeg Library Tech

• Thank you so much to Child’s Play for making us, as Child Life Specialists, look like the coolest people in the hospital!Read Full Letter »

  — Winnipeg Child Life Specialist

• I have a couple of older boys that were not wanting to come talk to anyone about the domestic violence in their home. One of the boys saw Xbox and made his own appointment...Read Full Letter »

  — Andrea, Children Services Coordinator, DV Shelter

• Thank you so much for the cart, TV, XBox, games, and controllers...I love that they can play with limited supervision, and we do not have to worry about anything getting broken or lost.Read Full Letter »

  — Jodi, Shelter Manager

• The console is attractive and doesn’t take up too much space and will bring some certain joy to the children we serve through our office and our shelter...Read Full Letter »

  — Nikki, Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault Shelter Director

• Hospitals can be scary places, and things like movies and video games give the children a sense of normalcy in what is not a normal situation for them...Read Full Letter »

  — Patti Brahe, senior vice president of Parkview Women’s and Children’s Hospital

• Our son was admitted to the UNC Children's Hospital with a severe outbreak of Staph Scalded Skin Syndrome. For the first time, we were on the receiving end of the donations that we had been contributing to for years...Read Full Letter »

  — Jay P. Parent

• Believe me when I say the donation we received could not have come at a better time. Not only will it provide our patients with support, distraction, and therapeutic play, it has already revitalized our staff morale...Read Full Letter »

  — Bethany L. Fisackerly, Child Life Specialist

• I walked into a patient's room and he immediately started crying but when I mentioned that I had a Nintendo DS (from Child's Play a few years ago) to lend him, he smiled and calmed down immediately...Read Full Letter »

  — Caroline, Kosair Children’s Hospital

• I don’t know how you all do this year in and year out but we are so incredibly grateful! I can’t think of a better partner to have to provide things for our patients that we would otherwise never be able to have.Read Full Letter »

  — Bethany Deines, Dayton Children’s Hospital

• As part of our coping plan, the patient played the DS (which was generously donated by Child's Play) while getting stitches.Read Full Letter »

  — Brittany S, CCLS, Sanford Children’s Hospital

• It was frightening and painful, and nobody wanted to explain anything to a 5-year old. The thing that changed me forever, though, wasn't the surgery, it was the game cart.Read Full Letter »

  — Jessica

• Instead of focusing on the treatment I turned my focus to the game. It helped me escape the current world I was in and allowed me to feel like a normal kid again...Read Full Letter »

  — John, Childhood Lymphoma Survivor

• When I tell them that we have video games for patients to play you can visibly see them relax. Parents are relieved to know that we can provide something familiar and comforting for their child during a stressful time in their lives.Read Full Letter »

  — Karen M., Child Life Manager, Children’s Medical Center of Dayton

• “OMG!” Marilyn repeated as she opened box after box of THE MOST AMAZING donation we have received. I can’t tell you how excited the Child Life Specialists are about this donation. Read Full Letter »

  — Marilyn C, Supervisor, Child Life Services, Shands Hospital for Children

• [The iPads] allow children who have been in car accidents to talk to their parents if/when the parents are transported to adult hospitals. You have no idea how this came as a very welcome gift for this program! Read Full Letter »

  — Bethany D, Dayton Children’s

• We just received the Child’s Play donation and we can’t stop jumping up and down with joy! Oh my goodness!! This is unbelievable!...Read Full Letter »

  — Victoria K,  Child Life Specialist, Methodist Children’s Hospital

• What an unexpected and welcome surprise! The Apple products will help us support children through stressful procedures and provide recreation during long waits...Read Full Letter »

  — Robert W., Child Life Specialist, UMass Memorial

• I've seen a lot of sick children, and I have heard them laugh, I've gotten hugs, and I've had some pictures drawn for me, but I have to say that the most telling sign of joy was remembering this boy's smile as we played and achieved together.Read Full Letter »

  — Alex

• Video games didn't save my life, and I didn't have a terminal disease, but they took what could have been one of the worst experiences of my life and made it my most positive hospital-related experience to date.Read Full Letter »

  — David

• I’m knitting this scarf for my daughter, for my son, for Minecraft, for Child’s Play, and for every parent who’s had to sit and watch their child suffer through illnesses...Read Full Letter »

  — Misty

• Our year-long struggle with her treatments and frequent hospital stays have been enriched by the time we’re able to spend with her playing games in the hospital just as we would at home (only with better games and a larger selection).Read Full Letter »

  — Dave Berry

• The work you guys are doing is incredible, and you're helping not just the kids in those hospitals, but all their friends, as well. Read Full Letter »

  — Chris Stafford

• This charity really helped my baby sister when she was at her worst and when I think how many other millions of people's younger siblings have the same story, it just makes me bawl like a little girl...Read Full Letter »

  — Sean Brown, age 25

• The work that you do in providing entertainment for Children's Hospitals is nothing short of amazing, and the benefit to the mental well-being of the patients is enormous...Read Full Letter »

  — James Flannery - Physiotherapy Student

• The videogames Texas Children’s provided in the recovery room kept his younger brother occupied and allowed his mother to focus on other matters...Read Full Letter »

  — Roxanne T.

• As you know, this is the first year we have registered with Child's Play and we were really overwhelmed by the kindness of gamers from all over the world.Read Full Letter »

  — Angela Harris - Royal Manchester

• That is a reality that Child's Play Charity is doing for our kids - adding a smile to their faces at a time when it is needed the most.Read Full Letter »

  — D. Bradley Leech - Children’s Mercy Hospital

• I am a pediatrician at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn and I see firsthand what charities like yours do for children...Read Full Letter »

  — James Brief, M.D.

• Your donations support seriously-ill children in hospitals by distracting them from their illnesses, and help them cope with fear, anxiety, and boredom.Read Full Letter »

  — Cameron Hosner - Children’s Hospital of Michigan

• This message seems wholly insufficient to convey my gratitude to those who give to Child’s Play. Their contributions bring important, joyful changes in children’s lives...Read Full Letter »

  — Colleen

• Part of the way through the day a volunteer from the hospital wheeled in a cart with a TV, a Nintendo and several games, and a DVD player. I can’t tell you how much it helped to get us through that day having the simple distraction of some video games...Read Full Letter »

  — Buddy - Father of Patient

• In addition, we bought a Nintendo Wii and Wii Fit. This is a HUGE success and we will probably buy several more. Not only are they suitable for recreation, but they serve a therapeutic purpose as well. Read Full Letter »

  — Amy L. Frey, Hospital for Special Care

• I never had it too bad, but from a former patient's perspective, this charity is one of the best and most meaningful events of the holiday season...Read Full Letter »

  — Nathaniel, ‘Bendery’ Jordan

• You're giving comfort to children who are told to be strong. You're bringing joy to kids too ill to laugh. And most importantly, you are restoring their hope...Read Full Letter »

  — Jenn K.

• As has happened so often during my son's treatment, I am astounded by the generosity of people. Thank you and your readers so much for Child's Play...Read Full Letter »

  — Father of Former Patient

• When we couldn't be there with him, two things the hospital had available got his mind off the situation: Nintendo and movies...Read Full Letter »

  — Alan

• They had an old pong machine, with the roller ball and dual screen. It is my first memory in the world of gaming, and one of the few, but very special, good memories I have from that ordeal.Read Full Letter »

  — Marshall Anderson

• ...I found myself in a brightly-colored, brightly-lit room with three or four un-inhabited stretchers and a clutch of children in hospital gowns playing Playstation...Read Full Letter »

  — Vicky Sherrouse