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Life Jackets for Kids, Inc. "Making Memories Out Of Happy Moments!" |
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Hello, my name is Ray Hindrichs. I am the co-founder of Life Jackets for Kids, Inc. with Cheryl Merritt. I had a passion to form this charitable foundation because of a family members battle with cancer and her resulting death. During that time I met many children with the "little trooper attitude" that: "tomorrow is another day". The families were meek, guessing about the unpredictable outcome and trying to live with their daily grief. Cheryl is a Registered Nurse and has consequently experienced, first hand, the hospital and clinic experiences of dealing with kids who have cancer and other critical diseases. No amount of therapy can help deal with the debilitating diseases of children or the loss of the child. Our wish is to help the families create some joyful memories to help them cope with the sadness that is to come in the future. Need I say more? Our organization is presently helping the Oncology section of Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida. We intend to concentrate on this area, serving Lee and Collier Counties. All money collected will be targeted for these counties. So that we can better serve this location on a day to day basis, our home office is located here in Southwest Florida. "What happens in Lee and Collier counties, stays in Lee and Collier Counties." Many other organizations operate out of one state and have their home office in another. We are entirely local. Some organizations collect large sums of money in Florida, yet so far, Dr. Emad Salman (Director of Oncology and Hematology at Children's Hospital of SW Florida) has not seen any of those collected funds; even though money has been collected here for years. Billions of dollars are collected nationally for cancer care, equipment and research. Yet there are no miscellaneous funds for the family to use on everyday expenses in order to spend time with their children. Dr. Salman, a nationally recognized Pediatric Oncologist and Hematologist, was adament when he requested assistance for the needs of families he is helping. He found that there was no place that was helpful in meeting the family's needs. When he contacted our organization, Dr. Salman asked what we could do to assist these families. We might have said that we could create extravagant vacations or render the publicity, but that is not what we are about. We are concerned with assisting families with the basic needs that they encounter daily, that restrict and burden the families and prevent them from spending time with their children and Making Memories out of Happy Moments, though sad and troubled times. We, the founders of this organization, are the base, but the support and existence of this organization is YOU! Without you, we do not exist, and the kids do not reap the benefits.
Let's not forget the physicians, nurses and social workers. They are our eyes and ears, and also serve as our check and balance system. We highly respect them for what they do daily. Any and all suggestions from our supporters will be considered. Please email them to us for a quick response. This also allows us to preserve valuable resources by keeping our clerical staff to a minimum.
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LIFE JACKETS for KIDS, INC. IS A 501C3 NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION EIN# 26-2329198 LIFE JACKETS for KIDS INC BOX 111239 NAPLES, FL. 34108 PHONE 239-322-8396 RAYHINDRICHS@LIFEJACKETSFORKIDS.ORG
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