Ways to give back

Here are some ways that many of you have already helped and can help CHD Awareness.

-Buy Colby Red wine 

 This red wine blend can be found at many retailers, including BevMo, Total Wine and More, and Safeway.  Proceeds from every bottle go to non-profits dealing with heart issues.  So far, Colby Red has raised over $850,000 for charity.  Hayes really enjoys this wine and we frequently buy it as gifts for others.  www.colbyred.com

-Participate in a Super Hero Heart Run or Heart Themed Run/Walk

  Many families participated in a local Super Hero Heart Run held in September 2016 in honor of Baby Ripley.  This race benefits Mended Little Hearts and Heart Heroes.  There are races all over the nation and there will be one in the Bay Area in September 2017.  We plan to be there this year and will be letting you all know about this as details emerge!

-Make in-kind donations for Bravery Bags

  When families go to the hospital for their children's open heart surgeries, they can be there for weeks.  Mended Little Hearts creates Bravery Bags of items to make the hospital stays for both the patients and the families more pleasant.  When we were at UCSF, we had care packages made for us by people from our church and also a college friend who is a nurse at UCSF's cardiac ICU.  These packages really did make a huge difference.  I am currently collecting donations for Bravery Bags (Amazon wishlist: http://a.co/2treYdx) and will host a Bravery Bag packing party in the Spring.

-Make monetary donations to non-profit organizations

  Here are some suggestions: Children's Heart Link (provides open heart surgeries for children in developing countries), Children's Heart Foundation, Mended Little Hearts, American Heart Association, your local children's hospital, Adult Congenital Heart Association, March of Dimes (geared towards premature babies, but many CHD babies are preemies too)

-Volunteer

  Use your time or your skills to volunteer for an organization that is related to CHDs.  For instance, even providing or preparing a meal for your local Ronald McDonald House will benefit CHD families as many of the families staying may have a heart child.  

-Buy items that are part of a fundraiser for heart related non-profit organizations

  Some examples that come up include different clothing retailers, many direct sales representatives (e.g. Origami Owl, Jamberry, LuLaRoe) will host fundraisers for good causes, restaurants sometimes will have promotions.  I will occasionally post about these when I see them come up.  I hosted a book party with Usborne in which the free books earned went to UCSF's Child Life Department.

-Provide experiences to CHD children
  Make a Wish Foundation often sponsors children with CHDs before they have open heart surgery.  My family donated a car to Make a Wish.  Many children with CHDs are not able to attend traditional summer camps.  There are some camps set up especially for CHD warriors and their families, including Camp del Corazon (http://www.campdelcorazon.org), Camp Taylor (http://www.kidsheartcamp.org), Pacemaker/ICD Camp (https://thriving.childrenshospital.org/summer-september-pacemakericd-camp-lets-kids-kids/).  These camps are provided either free of charge or for a small fee and allow CHD warriors to feel like normal kids and be around other heart warriors in the zipper scar club.

-Share facts about CHDs and my family's story with others

http://rrtor.blogspot.com/2017/02/journey-of-heart-mom.html