Now that Emily has recovered from this incident, I took her to Dollar Tree this afternoon for a special shopping trip to fill some Jared Boxes for our local hospital. If you are not familiar with Jared Boxes, you can read more about them here. Basically, the idea is to fill a shoebox-sized plastic container with new games and toys intended for ill children that you then donate to your local hospital to distribute.
Jared Boxes are made up of very inexpensive items, many of which can be purchased at a Dollar Tree, or some place similar. Emily enjoyed choosing all of the items for our Jared Boxes including (but not limited to): crayons, a coloring book, stickers, a small stamp set, a puzzle, and a card game. She even picked out items for the baby Jared Box: a ball, board book, receiving blanket, small stuffed animal, and bib.
Be sure NOT to include any hair items, and no food items please!
Altogether, it was just $12 to fill two Jared Boxes to the brim with games and toys! We are looking forward to delivering these to the hospital. I was under the impression that they were running a little low…. both of my girls received boy boxes! Nevertheless, they LOVED them!For detailed directions on how you can put together a Jared Box, click here.
June 29th, 2009 on 6:34 am
that is a neat idea! and what a good way for your children to learn about giving
June 29th, 2009 on 7:54 am
I was pleased to see our local hospital participates in the program. Thanks for the info. We'll be making a box too!
June 29th, 2009 on 8:34 am
What a great activity!
June 29th, 2009 on 12:22 pm
I think its great that Emily was able to be a part of it! Too bad our hospital doesnt participate.
June 29th, 2009 on 4:08 pm
@ DairyQueen — I am always looking for ideas to get the girls involved in volunteer work or charitable giving. If you know of any good programs, feel free to send the info my way!
June 29th, 2009 on 4:09 pm
@ Mama King — How exciting!! I'm sure the girls will enjoy putting a box together.
June 29th, 2009 on 4:11 pm
@ MaryAnne — Thank you!!
@ Ally — I have a feeling the program is more widely known in PA, since it started in State College, but it is continuing to grow, and now included close to 37 different states!
June 29th, 2009 on 5:09 pm
What a great lesson for the kids! I love this idea.
July 1st, 2009 on 6:03 pm
You're amazing.
I wondering if our local childrens has something like that? I will have to check.
Val
July 21st, 2009 on 4:32 pm
Great idea! Thanks for sharing the link!
January 18th, 2010 on 1:21 pm
what an easy and cost-effective way of giving…everyone should read that post!