Variety KC kids need you!

Of the thousands of Kansas City kids Variety supports, most live in lock-down every day.

Kids who live with illness and disability are already ‘locked down,’ isolated and socially distanced due to compromised immune systems. Now they are more at risk, more frightened and more alone than ever.

Many special needs kids are without devices or internet access, creating further social isolation and loss of educational support, impacting future engagement at school and mental well-being.

We surveyed our Variety families to learn how the crisis is affecting them.
Here are two Variety Family stories:

“Without access to the technology and education my son regularly receives, we worry about him backsliding. As a child with severe nonverbal autism, it’s important he receives daily interventions and the longer we go without care, the less chance he has to ever speak or be independent. This is more frightening to us than losing our home or jobs.”

“Our daughter has shown great progress communicating her needs and wants through the school’s iPad and apps. They say her frustration level is down and there’s been no episodes of acting out for months. Now, she’s here at home with no real way to tell us what she needs. I feel so helpless, it’s added a layer tension to an already stressful situation. Because of her outbursts, her siblings are avoiding her, which leaves her more alone than ever.”

With families already in crisis, we urgently need your support.

Variety responds to gaps and needs. Right now we need your help to provide iPads, laptops and educational apps to meet these urgent essentials. And we are delivering educational toys and games to make lockdown bearable, keep children engaged and to simply bring a little joy into their world.