It is not a happy fact at Children's Mercy but more than 120 children per day go through a painful or difficult procedure in our Lab Area. These procedures consist of sticks for various things such as blood tests.
Unfortunately, they are a fact of life.

When a child has gone through a difficult procedure in our lab, whether there were tears or not, Children's Mercy likes to let the child know they did a good job with a very small reward from the Lab Treasure Box. The child is allowed to choose their own toy thus giving the child back some sense of control.

Your group can help by collecting or purchasing:

• Erasers
• Pencils
• Foam airplanes
• Little plastic cars
• Super balls
• Plastic animals
• Sheets of stickers
• Bracelets
• Rings
• Necklaces
• Keychains
• Mini Frisbees
• Other small non-violent and non-religious toys

And to help our patients cope:

• Squeeze balls
• Pinwheels
• Small containers of bubbles

For our very smallest patients:

• Very small plush (stuffed) toys

All these items can be acquired at US Toy in Kansas City or through catalogs such as the Oriental TradingCompany, or Smilemakers.

We need literally thousands of these items per month!

To arrange this volunteer project for your group or for more information please contact Volunteer Services at (816) 234-3496.