Crayola Art Drive!

Many of you saw my post on Facebook about the generosity of Crayola, but here is what happened for those of you who missed it. We had the idea to collect something to take as a donation in memory of Sawyer on May 27, 2014 - an exact year since he passed away. I reached out to them to get some ideas on what would be beneficial in terms of donations, and the idea was given for art supplies. The child life specialist works with the kids on a daily basis to make sure their stay is as fun as it can be and they are always in need of art supplies. I reached out to all of the major companies I could think of; RoseArt, Cra-z-Art, and Crayola.

I received responses from all of them, but Crayola's really blew me away. All of the companies have regulations as to where they can donate if it is not a non-profit, usually within a certain distance of their main office. Since we are not in that range and we are not a non-profit, there wasn't much they could do other than send us through their donation links for non-profits. We waited pretty late to start this process so I didn't have time to try and link up with a non-profit. Other than Crayola, the responses were fairly generic. Here is the whole email I received from Crayola:

"Dear Ashlyn,

Thank you for your donation request and for sharing Sawyer's story with us. We love the idea of wanting to "pay it forward" to the hospital where Sawyer was born. I can recognize what a difficult time the past year has been, but when I was reading your blog, I was very much struck by your expressions of faith and gratitude.

Crayola's community relations program makes charitable contributions to non-profit organizations in Lehigh or Northampton Counties in Pennsylvania, and the city of Phillipsburg, New Jersey. Further information is located at http://www.crayola.com/faq/donations/who-do-we-contact-to-request-a-donation-in-the-us/.

When an exception is made and a CRAYOLA product donation is given to a qualified 501(c)(3) non-profit organization outside our area, it is generally coordinated through Good360, the world’s leading charity in product philanthropy. If you would like to apply, please visit the Good360 web site at http://www.good360.org or send a written request to:
Good360
1330 Braddock Place
6th Floor
Alexandria, VA 22314

In the meantime, Ashlyn, we'd like to help you get this project started, even if in a small way. We are sending to you, via regular mail, several complimentary coupons to use toward the purchase of any Crayola products(s). Please note the expiration date printed on the upper right hand corner of the coupon. You can expect to receive them within 10 business days.
We so appreciate your contact. If additional assistance is needed, you may reach us by telephone at (800) 272-9652 weekdays between 9 AM and 4 PM Eastern Time or email by visiting Crayola.com.

Best wishes for more colorful days ahead, Ashlyn."

 

I was so blown away they had taken the time to read my blog and send such a personalized response! I received the coupons yesterday, and I CANNOT wait to go shopping! We don't have a goal for this "art drive", we just know we want to do something to bless the hospital that took such great care of Sawyer during his 18 days of life. Even if just half of my Facebook friends donated one box of crayons, markers, construction paper, etc, we would have over 200 items to take on May 27! If you would like to participate in any way we are just asking that you get the donations to us by May 26 (or our parents/siblings).

Items we are looking for (but any art supplies will do!):

Crayons

Markers

Construction Paper

Colored Pencils

Gluesticks

Pipe Cleaners

Scissors

Play-doh

Watercolors

String

Beads

Ink Pads

Etc.

 

As I said before, we don't have a goal for this 'project' but we sure do hope these items brighten the kids days while they are in the hospital. Sawyer obviously wasn't old enough to do any art therapy, but the child life specialists took pictures for us, helped us with a mold of his foot, and also with taking his feet and hand prints the night he passed away. If you are interested in helping by donating, please know that ANY number of art supplies are very much appreciated. I will be driving these down to Egleston on May 27 as our donation in memory of Sawyer on a day that will forever be a memory in our hearts. Please let me know if you have any questions or any possible contacts! Obviously we are not looking for just Crayola products, but I was so touched by their response so I wanted to give them a shout-out. Thank you in advance - we love you all!

Love,

Ashlyn (& Josh!)