Mitzvah Day

Christmas Day in Baltimore means Mitzvah Day at the Jewish Community Centers. In 2015, Brian, Becca and I, started a tradition of volunteering on Mitzvah Day with Casey Cares Foundation. We joined hundreds of others who participated with the dozens of fun and meaningful volunteer projects hosted by community groups benefiting those in the Baltimore area. 

Casey Cares Foundation is a non-profit organization that provides uplifting programs with a special touch for critically ill children and their families throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. Casey Cares was an important role in our village over the years and we participated in many of their programs. 

1. Family Festivities: This is an ongoing program, one in which each family can participate in 3 times a year. The sole focus when planning these activities are the interests and abilities of the families. We did things from throwing out the 1st pitch at the Orioles games, to the circus, to Movie & Pizza Nights in the house.
2. Birthday Blasts: A birthday for a critical ill child and their siblings, is a special milestone celebrating life. It not only marks another year, it demonstrates a great achievement. Beginning a fresh new year by receiving a surprise delivery of a toy, flowers, cookies, balloons or gift cards on their special day. This simple act of kindness delivers joy and hope. The smiles on Becca and Ian's faces each year was priceless.
3. Celebration Vacations: This gives sick children and their families a chance for a weekend of "normalcy", a weekend where their illness is not a factor and they can just be a family. These weekends are customized getaways for the family that will be attending. Unfortunately, this is one of the programs we didn't take advantage of.
4. Kami's Jammies: Children on extended stays at the hospital often need some extra comfort. This program offers new sleepwear and themed pajama parties to pediatric patients at hospitals throughout the Mid-Atlantic Area. Ian and Becca received quite a few pairs of pajama's from this program. This is actually the program we were supporting yesterday. We spent 2 hours sorting and rolling pajamas so they are ready for their new friends.
5. Caring Connections: This is a group program for families in need of time to meet each other, share experiences, learn from each other and develop support systems. We attended on at Sagamore Farm's, where we got to tour the grounds and have BBQ picnic.
6. Hammy's Heart: In memory of a Casey Cares child, Abraham "Hammy" Scrivner, Hammy's Heart was created to offer gift cards to families who need assistance with their grocery bills. Back in 2013, while Ian had his lengthy stay at Hopkins and Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital, we received a few gift cards to Giant. 
7. Better Together: There is a science behind what Casey Cares does. Not a once-a-lifetime or once-a-year, we know that the best palliative care comes from continuous, ongoing support throughout a family's entire journey. Our bimonthly customized programs give families dozens of opportunities to create positive family memories while enrolled in our programs. The focus of pediatric palliative care is to enhance the quality of life for all involved, in large part by preventing and alleviating suffering. Emotional well-being is an integral part of a patient's ability to be physically healthy. Beginning as early as birth, we focus on the entire family, not simply the sick child. We support the family through treatment, continuing an additional year after treatment ends or the loss of a child. Unique to Casey Cares, we continue to work with families to raise their spirits after a family loses their child. Better Together encourages families who have suffered such a difficult loss to continue their participation with any Casey Cares programs for an additional year. During this difficult time, we hope to help families regain strength and focus on healing. Continuation of care and support at this critical time for a family is extremely important for rebuilding the unit. We were able to participate in Better Together. Tickets to Hershey Park were given to us, not only for the three of us but they gave us a fourth one so Becca could take a friend.

Mitzvah Day 2015

As you can see, Casey Cares is a wonderful organization that provides many programs for their participants. We were fortunate to have participated in all but one of their programs over the years. The Casey Cares family has become special to us. Our way to give back to them is to participate in Mitzvah Day as well as their Baltimore Orioles 5K Run/Walk every summer. We have not always been able to participate in the Run/Walk due to medical situations occurring with Ian, but we were always registered and donated to them. We will continue to support Casey Cares over the years, so they can continue to provide these much needed programs to the families whose children become critically ill.

Mitzvah Day 2017