Teaching Kids to Give: Random Acts of Zhu #RAZ2011

This holiday season I’ve really been focusing on teaching Jude what it means to give. We’ve participated in a few charitable acts as a family and I’m proud to say that Jude has really developed a giving spirit. So much so that at Christmas he wanted to keep giving people presents even after all of the gifts had been opened. He even wrapped up his dirty stocks for PaPop. Obviously, we still need to work on what makes a good gift but it’s the thought that counts right? He is three anyway.

Last year I was honored to participate in the Zhu Zhu Pet’s Random Acts of Zhu campaign. Last year we donated to the Raleigh Rescue Mission which helps all kinds of families in need throughout our city. This year, I want to help Jude connect with the charity we chose so after a bit of research and several recommendations I selected Zach’s Toy Chest. Zach’s Toy Chest is a small nonprofit organization created to benefit children of all ages receiving cancer treatments at local NC hospitals.I thought giving to other children would help him better connect with what we were doing any I think it worked. He was thrilled to be giving “toys for the boys a girls”.

I had the privilege of meeting with Zach’s Toy Chest founder, Holly who told me about the wonderful work they are doing with Duke Children’s hospital as well as several other hospitals across the state of North Carolina. Zach’s Toy Chest was founded in 2008 by Holly Schwab, mom to Zach. Zach had neuroblastoma and went through four months of chemotherapy at the Day Hospital. Although impressed with the level of professionalism and empathy displayed by staff at the Day Hospital, Schwab noticed the lack of toys for the children to play with during treatment. Many had to bring their own toys from home and if they forgot to bring toys, they had nothing to do during the long days of treatment.

Jude helping load the Zhu Zhu pets into the van.

The mission of Zach’s Toy Chest is to raise enough donations to give every child a ‘something special’ while receiving treatment at all local hospitals. Zach is now a healthy toddler who has been cancer free since August 2008.

Zach’s Toy Chest is a small non-profit that is working hard to make the lives of children with sometimes life threatening illnesses just a little bit better. I am thrilled to know that the Zhu Zhu pets and accessories we donated will bring joy to the children at Duke Children’s Hospital. Zach’s Toy Chest received 25 boxes (96 items) of Zhu Zhu Pets on December 23, 2011. They will all go to children receiving cancer treatments at Duke Children’s Hospital in Durham, NC.

I received the feature products with the purpose of donating to the charity of my choice. The opinions expressed in this post are my own and not influenced by the company.