Paper Clips Project
The Sandbox
What Is The Sandbox and How Do They Help?
The Sandbox is a non-profit organization that helps families with kids with cancer or other life altering illnesses. Unlike a lot of other, more well-known organizations, The Sandbox caters to more than just children with cancer. Life-altering illness encompasses a wide variety of illnesses from Cystic Fibrosis to Down Syndrome, etc. The organizaiton helps these families financially, socially, and emotionally through the various programs they have.
Sandbox Programs & Events
The Sandbox helps families by providing various programs and events throughout the year. Their biggest event would be their Evening of Believing Sandbox Prom. This prom is held once a year for all of the kids and their families and friends. During the Prom, families and friends are able to enjoy themselves and have a fun night while being able to forget about all of the stresses of their difficult day to day lives. The Sandbox provides everything from transportation to food to dresses and tuxedos. The Sandbox even has a Youth Mentor Program which takes a large diverse group of teenagers and young adults to help these kids through this "Prom process". Each child is assigned either one or two Youth Mentors who help them and thier families through the Try-On and Prom process. Youth Mentors also help with other events like the Kick-Off Party and Youth Council.
First It's Kick-Off!
The Kick-Off Party takes every year at the beginning of the summer. It "kicks-off" their fundraising season before Prom. At the party, people get a chance to learn a lot more about the organizaiton and how they can help as well as partake in raffles, silent auctions, and other fun activities. The girls in the picture are all youth mentors who help make sure events like these run smoothly!
Then It's Try-On Day!
Try-On Day is a big part of the Sandbox's preperation for Prom. Kids and their families come to Try-On Day to chose from thousands of dresses and tuxedos and accesories and shoes. They get to pick out their outfits for Prom and get alterations if necessary. Youth Mentors are the one's who help the kids and their families through this crazy and fun process.
Fianlly It's Prom!
An Evening of Believing Prom is a magical night for all the kids and their families. It all starts with the limo's and other vehicles that take the kids, their youth mentors, and their families to the Prom location. Once everyone arrives, the party can begin! Everything from food to music and dancing is there for the kids and their families to enjoy! :)
Sandbox Program & Events continued
Other than the Prom and the various event that lead up it, the Sandbox helps families in smaller ways as well. They help through programs like HopeFULL Holidays and Love Baskets. These programs will be explained below.
Love Baskets
Each Love Basket is packed with everyday items that families may need but don't always necessarily have the time or money to go out and get. Every Love Basket is filled with non-perishable food items, household supplies, personal hygiene items, and a believe card. These baskets help to provide financial and emotional support to families when support in needed the most. They are delivered to families all year round.
Outreach
This map above shows everywhere the Love Baskets have been delivered as well as where Sandbox medical and business partners are located.
HopeFULL Holidays
HopeFULL Holidays is a program spanning from October through January. During this time, families of The Sandbox are served with holiday-themed Love Baskets or wish list fulfillment. This is based on family needs and sponsorship support.
"Supporting families whose child has a rare or life altering illness..."
How The Sandbox Relates to Paper Clips
A large part of the "Paper Clip Project" was to demonstrate and promote things like teamwork, caring, compasion, patience, hope, and belief. The Sandbox is exactly like this in many ways. The word Believe is a big part of the Sandbox's mantra. The Sandbox works to promote compasion, caring, and hope by putting on all of these amazing events for these families who are going through hard times. They also promote teamwork by having programs like the Youth Mentor and Ambassador programs, the Youth Council, their Leadership Board, etc. The Sandbox encourages compassion and optimism by educating people on how difficult it can be in a family dealing with these kinds of struggles and encouraging them to help others.
Contact Information & Citations
All information and pictures were gathered from The Sandbox website: www.gotsandbox.org
Email: info@whatsinyoursandbox.org
Website: gotsandbox.org
Location: 9935 D Rea Rd # 107, Charlotte NC 28277 (mailing address only
Phone: 980.224.0231
Facebook: facebook.com/gotsandbox
Twitter: @gotsandbox