What is Kids Caring for Kids?

The mission of Kids Caring for Kids is to help students understand the importance of meaningful community service.  The Kids Caring for Kids program is a simple and fun way for schools to help support Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center.  We offer several ways for schools to raise funds for the hospital.  The flexibility of the program makes it easy for the schools to implement the activities into their schedule.

Why Participate in Kids Caring for Kids?

Did you know Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center is the first and only comprehensive children’s hospital in the Mid-South?  Last year we cared for more than 137,000 children.  For more than fifty years the hospital and its staff have been dedicated to providing exceptional pediatric care to all children.  Many of our patients are students in schools throughout the region.

Le Bonheur is a not-for-profit hospital relying on the support of a generous community to provide the best health care to all children.  Our care and services extend beyond the walls of Le Bonheur, providing many benefits to the community.  Our associates dedicate hours of tutoring and reading in elementary schools.  Our community outreach offers unique programs that serve more than half a million children in the region.

Have you heard Le Bonheur is growing?  With our new facility we will be the most technologically advanced pediatric hospital in the region.  By participating in the Kids Caring for Kids program students will learn the importance of giving back to the community. They will become part of the common thread of exceptional care Le Bonheur offers every child who walks through our doors.  Students will feel a great sense of pride when they see the new facility being built.  Participating in the Kids Caring for Kids program will give hope, life and love to the children of Le Bonheur.

How Kids can Care for Kids:

There are several ways schools can raise funds for the hospital.  Listed below are simple yet fun fund-raisers your school can conduct to raise funds for Le Bonheur.  Once you decide which activity appeals best to the age and interest of your school just contact Le Bonheur Foundation for all the materials you need to conduct a successful fund-raiser.

Go Jim Go!

Go Jim Go! kicks off the school program for the new school year! Jim Jaggers, meteorologist for News Channel 3, rides his bicycle over 333 miles across the Mid – South to raise funds and awareness for Le Bonheur Children’s. Jim encourages schools to sign up for one of the fund-raising activities listed below to support Go Jim Go! Sign up before September 12, 2008 and your school could win $1,000 worth of school supplies donated by Kroger. Participating schools may also be featured on wreg.com!

Coins 4 Kids

Coins 4 Kids is a great program that is fun for the students and is easy for the school to implement. To achieve the greatest success with this program, students are encouraged to bring in different denominations of money over a course of five days.  Monday students would bring in pennies, Tuesday – nickels, Wednesday – dimes, Thursday – quarters and on Friday dollars would be collected.  Once your school signs up to participate in this program, we will send you all the materials you need to conduct a successful fund-raiser.  The kit will include Coins 4 Kids instructions, posters, stickers, collection bags and sample letter for parents.

Show of Hands

Show of Hands is an incredible school program for the elementary schools that combines safety lessons with fund-raising.  The Show of Hands program complies with the Needs Assessment and Action Plan for School Environment to ensure safe conditions conducive to high levels of learning. Injuries are a leading health risk that children face today.  By increasing awareness and educating about ways to stay safe, fewer injuries will occur, school attendance will thrive and students will have an opportunity to learn!  The Show of Hands Safety Lesson booklets are age appropriate for grades K through 5, and are specifically designed with teachers in mind.  The easy-to-follow safety lesson plan booklet contains everything teachers need to conduct the Show of Hands – Parent Letter, Objectives, 3 Safety Lessons, Activity Sheets and Additional Activities for the classroom or the home, Parent Check List, Certificate, Donation Form, and Hand Print.   Preparation time is minimal. 

At the end of the fund-raiser each student will decorate the Hand Print in their booklet and the school can display them in the halls or classrooms to show the students have completed the Safety Lessons and in the process have also given a helping hand of support to Le Bonheur.  Show of Hands offers a creative, clever way to help make safety a habit at school and at home and a fun and easy way for children to help the kids of Le Bonheur!

To kick off this exciting fund-raiser the Le Bonheur Foundation and Safe Kids Mid-South offer an interactive presentation for your school assembly.  

Big Hearts for Little Kids

Ask each student to help heal a child by purchasing a heart for $1. You can sell the hearts in each homeroom, during lunch, break periods, or any other time during the day. Once the students purchase the hearts they can write their name or their friends name on the heart.  The hearts can then be displayed around the school showing that the students have “Big Hearts for Little Kids.”  This fundraiser can also be done around Valentines Day so that the students can purchase the hearts as valentines for their friends. You can have a competition between the classes to get the students excited! Le Bonheur will provide the hearts.

Hat Day/Dress Down Day

This is a very easy fund-raiser.  It takes very little effort and planning.  Pick any day that fits into your school calendar to conduct the fund-raiser.  Ask each student to pay $1 or $2 for the privilege of wearing a hat to school or dressing down for the day.  A Le Bonheur sticker can be given to the students to show they paid.

Other suggestions:

Performances - at your next school event ask guest to donate money for Le Bonheur.  We will provide banners and containers for collecting the donations.

Art Classes – have your students create an item  such as a painted flower pot or piece of artwork  then sell to parents during a school event such as a book fair.

Dance – hold a dance or sock hop during school.  Charge Students $1 or $2 to attend.

Sporting event - During your school’s sporting event, have students collect donations at the door or pass canisters through the stands during halftime. Contact Le Bonheur for canisters and banners.

Walk-a-Thon - Students raise pledges for the number of laps or miles they walk or collect a flat donation for participating. Walk-a-thons can be held after lunch, allowing children to walk in shifts. You can create your own pledge form or contact Le Bonheur Foundation for assistance.

Jar Wars - Classrooms compete against each other to collect the most points during a specific time frame. Students collect pennies and dollar bills which count as positive points while sabotaging other classrooms with silver coins which are negative points.

Battle of the Bands - Organize a Battle of the Bands between two rival high schools. Ask bands with members who attend your school or nearby high schools to participate. Charge admission and send the proceeds to Le Bonheur.  Le Bonheur can provide banners and canisters.

School Singing Idol – hold a contest for singing Idol.  Charge entry fee for participants, admission for guest.  Votes are cast by donations.  Singer collecting the most cash votes wins!!

These are just a few suggestions – be creative and have fun raising funds for Le Bonheur!