Beads of Courage is a program that helps children with serious illness. It offers a coping mechanism by letting each child commemorate milestones in their treatment with special beads that are strung on a cord. Different colour beads signify different treatments or surgeries. Every time a milestone is passed the child receives a bead to add to their string, allowing them to see how far they have come on their journey of recovery. It seems as if this idea started in Canada, but Beads of Courage (click to visit their site) is based in the US and at present doesn't seem to have any Canadian hospitals on board, which is a bit of a shame.
Beadmakers from all over donate beads to this cause, that are then distributed to participating hospitals. There are special beads of significance, when a child completes his or her treatment they are given a purple heart. Butterflies are also special as they can be given to grieving parents as part of the End of Life program.
If you have spare beads that you feel able to donate I encourage you to visit one of the glass forums and look for current Beads of Courage collections, or visit the Beads of Courage site for more information. You may also download their .pdf that explains the types of beads they are looking for.
Where did you find this? What a wonderful idea this is.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this here, Louise.
I would love to give some beads !
Hi Valentina, I heard about BOC on the Wet Canvas forum, isn't it a good idea! I'm trying to see if CHEO can get added to the list of hospitals that benefit from all the donations.
ReplyDeleteHI Louise
ReplyDeleteI was trying to find out if there were any Canadian hospitals on board as it would be nice to donate locally!
Your site answers my google quest...
Guess I'll make my hearts and butterflys for the US.
New Zealand does have a program now so maybe it would be worth persuing it in Canada?
Lynne
Do you have spring yet? I had flowers until the deer ate them!
I'm glad you found me Lynne! I put a couple of calls in to CHEO (Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario), and also left a message hoping for a call back, but haven't heard from anyone. It seems to be difficult to find out who exactly is in charge of receiving the beads for this program. I do agree though, no matter where they go they are going to a wonderful cause.
ReplyDeleteYes, our snow is gone, things are shooting up - mostly daffodils and I think today was the warmest yet :o)