Gilbert girl diagnosed with brain tumor, family prepares for 'Crazy' toy drive [Fitted Hat]
As she and her Gilbert family reeled with the trauma, they looked around at other children in the Phoenix Children's Hospital cancer ward and decided to help.
Her father, Aaron, a pastor at Chandler's Cornerstone Christian Fellowship, and mother, Holly, realized that though Christmas that year would be like no other they'd experienced, they could make it special by giving to others.
"That first Christmas started with our own disappointment that our family might not be together as Kate underwent chemotherapy and her sister and brother wouldn't be able to visit due to hospital flu-season restrictions," said Pastor McRae. "We decided to do something to replace that discouragement and asked Kate's prayer warriors to join us in making the day fun and hopeful for those kids who were hospitalized during Christmas."
With Kate's input, the McRaes named the toy drive Kate's Crazy Cool Christmas and posted it on their CaringBridge page and their newly created prayforkate.com website.
The response of more than 1,000 toy and gift donations was both unexpected and overwhelming. Not only did the children occupying the oncology floor receive gift-wrapped packages, but the largesse spilled over to other PCH children, the outpatient oncology clinic, and another hospital's pediatric ward.
Seeing other children's smiles at receiving the Christmas gifts gave Kate a sense of joy, recalled her mother Holly.
Last year, four days before Christmas, Kate, her parents, siblings Olivia and Will, now 9 and 6, and friends delivered thousands of gifts and an equal number of gift cards to PCH oncology patients. The gifts poured in from throughout the U.S. and the world as word spread via blogs and prayer chains.
Holly McRae recalled the reaction of a 10-year-old patient who also was fighting a brain tumor and blind from surgery, who asked for button-down shirts and anything country. He received a cowboy hat, a guitar, an iPod and more than 40 country CDs, many signed by the artists.
"It was fun to see him revel in a little spoiling during a very challenging fight," she said. "One mom told me quietly she didn't know what she was going to do for her daughter this Christmas; there were no funds left for that. She left smiling with a packed-out car. Not the cure we all hope for but a momentary distraction from a lifestyle that can be overwhelming at times."
Though Kate, now 7, learned her Nov. 21 MRI showed no visible cancer cells, she is still undergoing chemotherapy .
This will be her second year celebrating Christmas at home, but her desire to share with fellow oncology patients, and other children hospitalized during the holidays, continues.
And so, the third annual Kate's Crazy Cool Christmas is under way.
There is a wide variety of gift suggestions and requests at www.signup genius.com/go/requested1/238. Some are simple wishes like gift cards, games or sketchbooks; others more specific such as a digital camera, eight-person tent or Ed Hardy Perfume set.
McRae friend and fellow organizer Julie Dodd of Gilbert said this year there are more sports-clothing requests - including Diamondbacks, Phoenix Suns, Coyotes, Minnesota Twins, Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys shirts and sweatshirts.
Larger items, such as the iPod touch, are in short supply. The McRays and volunteers try to match gifts with children's specific requests.
Her father, Aaron, a pastor at Chandler's Cornerstone Christian Fellowship, and mother, Holly, realized that though Christmas that year would be like no other they'd experienced, they could make it special by giving to others.
"That first Christmas started with our own disappointment that our family might not be together as Kate underwent chemotherapy and her sister and brother wouldn't be able to visit due to hospital flu-season restrictions," said Pastor McRae. "We decided to do something to replace that discouragement and asked Kate's prayer warriors to join us in making the day fun and hopeful for those kids who were hospitalized during Christmas."
With Kate's input, the McRaes named the toy drive Kate's Crazy Cool Christmas and posted it on their CaringBridge page and their newly created prayforkate.com website.
The response of more than 1,000 toy and gift donations was both unexpected and overwhelming. Not only did the children occupying the oncology floor receive gift-wrapped packages, but the largesse spilled over to other PCH children, the outpatient oncology clinic, and another hospital's pediatric ward.
Seeing other children's smiles at receiving the Christmas gifts gave Kate a sense of joy, recalled her mother Holly.
Last year, four days before Christmas, Kate, her parents, siblings Olivia and Will, now 9 and 6, and friends delivered thousands of gifts and an equal number of gift cards to PCH oncology patients. The gifts poured in from throughout the U.S. and the world as word spread via blogs and prayer chains.
Holly McRae recalled the reaction of a 10-year-old patient who also was fighting a brain tumor and blind from surgery, who asked for button-down shirts and anything country. He received a cowboy hat, a guitar, an iPod and more than 40 country CDs, many signed by the artists.
"It was fun to see him revel in a little spoiling during a very challenging fight," she said. "One mom told me quietly she didn't know what she was going to do for her daughter this Christmas; there were no funds left for that. She left smiling with a packed-out car. Not the cure we all hope for but a momentary distraction from a lifestyle that can be overwhelming at times."
Though Kate, now 7, learned her Nov. 21 MRI showed no visible cancer cells, she is still undergoing chemotherapy .
This will be her second year celebrating Christmas at home, but her desire to share with fellow oncology patients, and other children hospitalized during the holidays, continues.
And so, the third annual Kate's Crazy Cool Christmas is under way.
There is a wide variety of gift suggestions and requests at www.signup genius.com/go/requested1/238. Some are simple wishes like gift cards, games or sketchbooks; others more specific such as a digital camera, eight-person tent or Ed Hardy Perfume set.
McRae friend and fellow organizer Julie Dodd of Gilbert said this year there are more sports-clothing requests - including Diamondbacks, Phoenix Suns, Coyotes, Minnesota Twins, Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys shirts and sweatshirts.
Larger items, such as the iPod touch, are in short supply. The McRays and volunteers try to match gifts with children's specific requests.
2011-12-02 12:12
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