Today was a GREAT day for Demetrius and his family…Variety Children’s Charity was able to provide a ramp for the families van. Demetrius is a 15 year old young man that has permanent disabilities and is confined to a wheelchair. And at his age, he is too heavy for his family to lift in to the van every time they need to leave the house. This van ramp will allow Demetrius to feel independent and secure. We are so please to be able to assist this sweet family. http://varietykc.org/
The announcement for the Oscar’s nominee’s will be held today! What a great way to get excited about Oscar Night America. There is no better place to watch the Live Oscars than at the AMC Mainstreet 6 theater…Feel like you are in the front row in Hollywood.
Our event starts at 6:00pm on Sunday, February 27th , 2011. Host Larry Moore will be there to recognize our Stars of Kansas City.
Buy your ticket now at http://varietykc.org/.
Variety had a Royal weekend.
We started early Saturday morning with a booth at Royals FanFest! The Overland Park Convention Center was transformed into a “Disney World type” experience for Kansas City Royals fans and players.
Variety’s Children Charity of KC introduced our new Mascot….It was a huge hit and kid magnet. So many people wanted pictures with the Variety Heart Mascot……One little girl hugged the heart and said….. “I love you heart”. We met wonderful people and encouraged them to run or walk in the Royals 5K this September. The proceeds will benefit Royals Charities and Variety Children’s Charity of KC.
Our booth drew in alot of fun loving kids…We had a bubble machine, baseball Home Run game and lots of prizes. We had some Variety kids attend the event and we were able to get them up close to some of their favorite players. That was fun to see. We also made friends with the Overland Park Police Captain and his crew…They wore Variety Gold Heart Pins to show their support of our mission!
Our Variety High School volunteers are amazing……Jon, Sommer, Julia, Maggie, Abby, Julia, Sarah and Jillian. We also had Young Variety volunteers participate…Gene and Karen and Variety Volunteer..Tina….(It does take a village!) I am so impressed that students have the drive to give back to the communities they live. It is character building experience.
I had the unbelievable pleasure to meet Dan and Penny Glass. (actually bumped into them) What an honor to be able to thank them in person for their support and belief in Variety’s mission. I am in awe of their philanthropic heart that gives back to our community…especially to the kids in Kansas City that need assistance…Like our Variety kids. They use their lives to make a difference and change the lives of others.
What could be more rewarding than leaving a legacy of giving?
Variety’s Board had many requests for funding this month.
So glad we can help Demetrius get a wheelchair ramp for his van. He is a wonderful 15 year old boy that suffers with Spastic Cerebral Palsy. He is getting too big to lift, and now… Mom can push him in his wheelchair into the van so he can get around easier.
I have the honor of letting this family know their burden to fiance the ramp has been lifted.
We also granted little 8 year old Alyssa, the adaptive bike she needs. Alyssa’s therapist thinks this will help her benefit by engaging her gross motor skills…And I hope she will to have some fun too! Alyssa has Rett Syndrome and has a very supportive and encouraging mother. I know she loves American Girl Dolls…Maybe I’ll see about a basket for the bike so her doll can come with her.
The board also granted the wish of the last payment of a motorized wheelchair for sweet 10 year old Noah.
Noah relies on a power chair because of Freeman-Sheldon syndrome. These necessary wheelchairs are unbelievable expensive…Close to $30,000. It seems so unfair that something so mandatory has to be so expensive. When I told Noah’s mom of our approval of funds…she was so grateful like all families that are offered help for children.
Look what Noah’s mom wrote on Facebook…..The Young Variety Club of Kansas City! If you know anyone involved with this group, give them a great big hug from Noah. They have agreed to pay almost $4,000 towards Noah’s new wheelchair. If you don’t know anyone, check them out on FB and leave them a message letting them know how much this is appreciated, and what it means to Noah! He will be able to stand up by himself in this chair 🙂 AMAZING!!!!!
All the hard work, endless hours and countless times sharing our mission with strangers…pays off on a day like today!
Matching Gifts from Kansas City Companies
Below is a list of companies that offer a charitable Matching Gift Programs.
If your company is listed below, you can increase the value of your gift to Variety-The Children’s Charity by obtaining a matching gift form from your Human Resources Department and mailing it to us at the address below with your donation.
If you have already made your gift, you can mail the matching gift form separately. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Every little bit helps Kansas City kids in need.
Variety -The Children’s Charity of Greater Kansas City.P.O. Box 3446 Shawnee, KS 66203
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Franklin Quest Fuji Photo Film, U.S.A., Inc. Gannett Foundation Gap, Inc. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation GEICO Corporation General Electric Co. General Mills Corporation Georgia Pacific Corporation Gerber Products Company The Gillette Company GlaxoSmithKline GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corporation Goodrich Corporation Google, Inc. Grainger H&R Block, Inc. H.J. Heinz Company Hallmark Cards, Inc. Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. Hartford Insurance Company Hewlett-Packard Company Home Depot Honda of America Manufacturing, Inc. Honeywell H.R. Williams Mill Supply Humana, Inc. IBM Corporation IFTC Illinois Tool Works Ivy Labs The J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation John Hancock Financial Services Johnson & Johnson Johnson Controls, Inc. Jostens, Inc. Kansas City Life Insurance Co. Kansas City Power & Light Kansas City Southern Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation Muriel McBrien Kauffman Foundation W. K. Kellogg Foundation Kemper Mutual Funds Kimberly-Clark Corporation Kmart Corporation Labconco Corporation Land O’Lakes, Inc. Lee Company Levi Strauss & Co. Lexmark International, Inc. Libbey, Inc. Thomas J. Lipton Foundation Liz Claiborne Loews Corporation Lucent Technologies Marine Midland Bank Mass Mutual Financial Group MasterCard International, Inc. Mattel, Inc. The May Department Stores Company Marsh Maytag Corporation Mazda North America, Inc. McDonald’s Corporation The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Mercantile Bankshares Corporation Mercedes-Benz U.S. International, Inc. Merck & Co., Inc. Meredith Corporation Merrill Lynch & Company, Inc. Microsoft Corporation Milton Bradley Company Mitsubishi International Corporation MMI Companies Mobil Foundation Monsanto Company MONY Morton International Motorola Inc. Murphy Oil Corporation Mutual of America Life Insurance Company National Starch & Chemical NEC Laboratories American, Inc The Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. New York Stock Exchange Foundation, Inc. The New York Times Company Newsweek, Inc. |
NFL National Football League Nike, Inc. Nissan North America, Inc. Nokia Norfolk Southern Corporation Northwestern Mutual Life Foundation Novartis Corporation Olin Corporation Olympus America, Inc. ONEOK, Inc. Palm, Inc. Panera Bread Company Panhandle Eastern Corporation Pella Corporation PepsiAmericas PepsiCo, Inc. Pfizer, Inc. Pitney Bowes Inc. Polaroid Foundation PPG Industries PQ Corporation Procter & Gamble Progressive Corporation Prudential Financial Quaker Oats Foundation Qualcomm Inc. Quest Diagnostics, Incorporated QuikTrip R.H. Donnelley Corporation RadioShack Corporation Ralston Purina Company Random House, Inc. RBC Dain Rauscher The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc. Reebok Roche Diagnostics Corporation Rolex Watch U.S.A., Inc. Root Laboratory Safeco Insurance Company Sallie Mae Santa Fe Pacific Foundation Sara Lee Foundation SBC Communications Inc. Sentry Insurance Foundation Sony USA Foundation Inc. Sprint Corporation St. Paul Travelers Companies Stanley Works Foundation Starbucks Corporation State Farm Companies State Street Bank and Trust Company Sun Microsystems, Inc. Susquehanna International Group, LLP T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. Tandy Corporation Tension Envelope Corporation Tetley USA Inc. Texas Instruments, Inc. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Time Warner Inc. Tompkins Corporation TORO Toys R Us Transamerica Corporation Travelers Express Company, Inc./MoneyGram International Tyco International UBS Unilever United States, Inc. Union Pacific Corporation United Parcel Service of America, Inc. United States Cellular Corporation United Technologies Corporation U.S. Bancorp Foundation USF Vanguard Group, Inc. Verizon VF Corporation VML, Inc. Wachovia Bank Washington Mutual, Inc. The Washington Post Company Waters Corporation Westinghouse Electric Whirlpool Corporation The Williams Companies, Inc. WMX Technologies Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company Wyeth Yahoo, Inc. Yum! Brands, Inc. |