Life is amazing. Sometimes, something as simple as the paths of two sweet kids crossing at a fun event can create the most amazing results. Case in point, Ava Tucker impacted our lives forever when she gave up her birthday gifts to give Happy Crates to other kids affected by cancer in the hospital.
We had the honor of meeting 7-year-old, Ava Tucker, and her mom Amy, at the Superhero Family fun Day in Glen Bernie, MD. The goal of this event is to create a fun and safe atmosphere for families and raise money for The Children’s Cancer Foundation. Lucky for us, Ava and her mom stopped by our Happy Crates table to learn more about our family’s story, and how Happy Crates came to be.
Amy reached out the day after we met and let us know that Ava wanted to use her personal gifts from her birthday to raise money to do something for kids with cancer. We were so excited and instantly got to work on what we now know as our Happy Crates “Share A SMILE” program. As a childhood cancer family ourselves, we know the value of a simple smile. What we’ve found is that there are so many that wish to help in any way they can, but they don’t quite know how. Our “Share A SMILE” program, allows others to do just that!
Over the course of her birthday, and the weeks following, Ava rallied her incredible friends & family to help her send Happy Crates to children going through treatment at John Hopkins Children’s center.
The magic of this birthday miracle came to light when Ava got to deliver the Happy Crates filled with toys, games, crafts and more! In an incredible and humbling moment, we got to witness this young lady unload boxes onto the carts that were heading up to the oncology floor. Here is a child/family, who has thankfully never been personally affected by childhood cancer, working hard to help children they’ve never met. It’s everything good in this world. Witnessing our 10 year old cancer warrior proudly work alongside his new friend Ava to unload these boxes was a moment that will forever be engrained in our hearts.
Unfortunately, going onto the oncology floor is not an option, especially through flu season. Lucky for Ava, the social worker who was helping us to deliver the happy crates shared that she wanted to bring a little warrior down to collect their surprise. As you can imagine, being able to see the joy on the face of the recipient made the moment that much more special. To see a little touch of the bigger picture, and the joy that these Happy Crates bring for these courageous kids was a treasure!
We are so thankful for Ava and her huge heart. She, her family, her friends and everyone else who supported her mission helped to share 45 crates for kids fighting cancer. Our dream is to send Happy Crates to children fighting cancer in all children’s hospitals throughout the United States, every month of the year! Our work will not be done until the day that our kids have a cure!
On a more personal note, there are many challenges and a whole lot of heartache in walking this childhood cancer journey as a family. Moments like this and special people like Ava bring us, and many others on this journey, enormous amounts of JOY, LIGHT, and SMILES. For us, moments like these are everything. God is so good!!
In closing, if you’re interested in more information on how you, your company, team, church, school, or group, can be part of our “Share A SMILE” program, please reach out to us at [email protected]. Visit us online anytime at http://Www.HappyCratesGives.org
“Together, we create SMILES!”
Kindly,
The Happy Crates Family