Our 2018 Murder Mystery Dinner Fundraiser brought in $8,000!

The SECOR family so generously helped us get filled backpacks for all our siblings!

At our summer party, we rented a fleet of boats that included paddle boards, cool shaped paddle boats and kayaks for everyone to enjoy the water. We also had a fishing station. 

Because of the fundraiser, we were able to purchase these awesome inflatable balls so the little kids could roll in them and the teens could run into each other. We have 8!

Madelene wants Heartfelt Hugs to be about the friendships and bonds that come out of this sometimes heartbreaking journey.
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We try to chose events that are good for all ages between 8-17. Older siblings are great volunteers and helpers!
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It was a PERFECT sunny day and we had 100 people signed up for this event (some aren't shown because they were on the paddle boats. We had games, paddle boats and paddle boards rented, Chipotle donated lunch and lots of generous people brought/baked cakes for desert. Jaala, https://www.jaala.com chose Heartfelt Hugs as a recipient of all her incredible custom decorations. Diana Lee Deter came with her incredible creatures such as birds, tortoise, snakes, etc. and did an animal show for all ages. Thank you to all our families, sponsors and volunteers who made this a very special event for all. 

We did it! The first event of HEARTFELT HUGS was a success! It was a bit of a last minute scramble to find families but we ended up with 4 kids total, 3 parents and a fun afternoon of Halloween activities. Thanks to ROCK CREEK PUMPKIN PATCH in Lafayette, the kids were able to go in the corn maze, play in the inflatables, and go in the fields to pick their own pumpkins! 

 

Today was the second event for HEARTFELT HUGS and we were thrilled that the group had grown! This time we had an employee from There with Care (Our parent non-profit), 4 parents, 2 cancer kids and 4 siblings! We spent close to 3 hours watching the kids form new friendships, learn to skate, share cookies and hot cocoa, ride in a horse drawn carriage and each sibling was able to pick a gift from Madelene's gift box. She also had enough funding to bring each participant a little stocking of candy so nobody went home empty handed. The owner of the skate rink came by and donated money for us to purchase snacks which some of the kids shared by the warm fire. It was so great to see the parents all bonding and sharing stories/ideas/suggestions about their individual families. We all left with new friends and warm hearts - excited to see each other again in two months.