Let us help you
Grant Applications
Variety KC Communication (Assisted Technology) Grant
Variety KC Mobility Grant
Variety KC GoBabyGo! Program
The Variety KC GoBabyGo! Program provides modified toy ride-on cars to provide mobility & sociability for children with special needs.
About the Grants
Assisted Technology Grant
For parents of special needs children, these devices are lifelines to understanding their children. It means being able to ease tense and frustrating situations. It can mean getting medical help faster – and more accurately. It also means more ways to interact and share with their children.
For the kids – these devices give them a voice! It’s a way to reduce frustration by being able to communicate needs and wants. It provides them with a way to engage with their friends, teachers, families…and community. Born in this digital age, even very small children are able to operate these tablets and apps. Therapists and physicians stress that early intervention is best. Many Variety kids are exposed to this technology in a school or therapy setting, but without the same technology at home – they experience the most frustration with their close family and caregivers. In some cases, innovative technology such as Vocal ID, actually gives the child their own voice. By taking samples of sounds the child can make, Vocal ID can replicate what the child’s speaking voice would sound like. Then that unique voice can replace a robotic voice on their computer. Can you imagine hearing your child’s voice after so many years of non-verbal communication? It’s truly miraculous! If you believe that every parent should be able to talk with his or her child and that every child deserves to be heard, please join in our cause. If you need help communicating with your developmentally-disabled child, please apply for our Assisted Technology Grant program now.
Variety KC Mobility Grant
Mobility is a broad term. It might mean a ramp so a family can get a child in a wheelchair safely into the car. It could be an actual wheelchair, a Go Baby Go car for a toddler, an adaptive bicycle or a gait walker.
Some mobility issues may surprise you – for example, heavy power wheelchairs prohibit many children from entering a home with stairs. If the chair and child are too heavy to lift, they miss out on birthday parties, holiday celebrations, even seemingly simple things like trick-or-treating…..all because a step has prevented mobility.
Mobility issues can be a matter of inclusion. Without the proper equipment, some kids with special needs aren’t able to participate in sports or team activities. Without the proper kind of playground surface, some kids can’t safely navigate a playground.
Variety KC believes all kids deserve to Be Active, Be Social, and Belong. If you believe that too – then click here to donate.
If you need help purchasing equipment for your child with a mobility related challenge, please fill out our mobility grant application here.
GoBabyGo! Application
These cars also provide caregiver relief as the kids are frequently too young for insurance to support wheelchair purchases, leaving caregivers to transport them.
The cars are purchased by Variety KC, then engineering and therapy students (and even Robotics Teams!) work to adapt the cars to each child’s needs. It might be the addition of large start buttons for a child who is visually challenged, or swim noodles strategically placed in areas of the car to provide safety.
If you would like to see a child’s face light up as they take their first ride of independence, then donate to help Variety KC here.
If you have a child who has experienced a Go Baby Go car at therapy or have seen stories about Go Baby Go – and believe your child would benefit from a car – fill out a grant application here. Because we are powered by high school and university students, our application is not available during the summer months (May-August).
FAQs
Who does Variety KC help?
How do I get help?
What materials do I need to have on hand before I fill out an application?
❑ Letter(s) of verification from professionals you identified (therapist, doctor, social worker) who are most familiar with your child’s needs. This letter should specify your child’s needs for the equipment requested.
❑ Copy of insurance card
❑ Copies of determinations from relevant insurance programs.
❑ Copy of latest federal income tax return, pages 1 & 2.
❑ Copy of the quote for your request directly from the vendor.
❑ Clear, detailed description of equipment to meet child’s needs.
❑ Address all items as stated in the Addendum for appropriate equipment being requested.
❑ Two or three assisted technology bids from suppliers (Variety can assist you in choosing a vendor).
❑ Signature on Release of Liability Form.
❑ Signature on Affirmation of Truth Statement.
❑ Signature on Disclaimer.
❑ Authorization to Use Name & Likeness (signature optional).
❑ Recent photo of the child. (high resolution image)
❑ Signatures of all legal guardians & complete demographic data.
❑ If funding is approved, we do require photographs of child with equipment (preferably within a month of project completion). Please use 35mm film or you can submit via email to varietykc@gmail.com.
How can I help Variety KC?
Resources
Vendors
Additional Funding Sources
First Hand Foundation (Children)
Friends of Johnson County Developmental Supports
Friends of Man
Helping Hand Foundation
Johnson County Developmental Supports
Kansas City Regional Center of Developmental Disabilities
Kansas Society for Children with Challenges
Kids Assistive Technology KAT Grant
Lions Club
Lopez Family Foundation
Midwest Social Needs Trust
Missouri Assisted Technology
Missouri Assistive Technology Adv. Council
Missouri Cattleman’s Association Children’s Funds
Muscular Dystrophy Association
Show Me Loans
The Children’s Miracle Network of Greater Kansas City
Travis Roy Foundation
United Cerebral Palsy of Kansas
United Cerebral Palsy of Missouri
Organizations to Know
Alphapointe Association for the Blind
Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired
Coalition for Independence CFI
Down’s Syndrome Guild of Greater Kansas City
EITAS
Greater Kansas City Spinal Cord Injury Association
Kansas City, Missouri Parks and Recreation
Lee’s Summit, Missouri Parks and Recreation
Midwest Adaptive Sports (MAS)
Platte County Board of Services
United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Kansas City
YMCA Challenger Sports