A Child Writes Launches

When Gabby was in the hospital one thing she loved was receiving cards.  Of course the gifts people brought were awesome too.  During her hospital stay when someone would come to visit, she always asked them to color a picture with her.  She had numerous coloring books at the hospital and besides putting together puzzles that was her favorite pastime activity.  Each picture that was colored was signed by the creator and hung on Gab’s hospital room wall.  If she received a card, a picture or a coloring sheet from anyone it went up right away.  Her doors and walls were covered.

There was a time when she was in the hospital that she didn’t talk, she didn’t play and she hardly moved.  But during this time she always wanted me to read her cards to her.  She wanted to be reminded of who colored each photo and where every craft that was hanging came from.  She would lay there and stare at her walls.  Honestly the love Gab felt coming from something as simple as a greeting card, the care that came out of those cards into her, I believe is what kept her going.  There was even a period where she got an infection in her blood stream and ran a 104 temperature for days straight, during this time I would read her each day a new card that came providing her with a little more hope that yet another person was telling her to get well and sending her best wishes.  Still to this day we kept all her pictures and cards for her to look back on anytime she wants.  The love that she felt and the love that she learned was priceless.

All children love getting mail.  Pull an envelope out of the mailbox addressed to your child and you’ll see their face light up with excitement.  Something so simple as a letter or postcard can make their day.  I decided a year ago that I wanted to teach my children that not only they love receiving mail.  Like the old saying ‘do unto others the way you want others to do unto you’.  I wanted to teach them that they aren’t the only ones that love receiving a simple gesture of kindness.  A colored picture, letter, greeting card or even an email shows care in many ways.  If they want to receive then they should send.

The vision for A Child Writes was formed.  I wanted to create a way to teach all children this trait.  I wanted to teach them about building strong communities.  Of course there are pen-pal sites out there, but I wanted more.  I wanted for not only my children to take part in helping others feel the way Gabby did in the hospital but as many children as I could.  A Child Writes was founded and is so much more than a pen-pal site.  Monthly we will feature a different organization, foundation or cause.  Within that month I will challenge each child to create a card, write a letter or just color a picture for us to distribute.  Whether that month we are sending all mail to military soldiers, nursing home patients, breast cancer fighters or children in the hospital during Christmas; I want each child to take part in putting a smile on someone’s face.  When a child sends in a piece of mail to be distributed their name will be entered into the monthly drawing for kid friendly prizes.  During each month we plan to provide articles for parent resources to aid in teaching their children about the foundation, organization or cause that month.  For example the month we honor Childhood Cancer a mother whose child suffered from cancer will provide her story along with tips for children to better understand.  My goal with A Child Writes is not only for children to have fun interacting online with other children, enjoy sharing a pen-pal to exchange mail with but to also unite together to grow strong communities.  We hope to host monthly or weekly online parties with fun age appropriate games and prizes as well as feature a member of our site on the front page of A Child Writes with photo showing their community involvement.  All children are welcome, no matter what their location, to join together to build a strong online community.  The sky is the limit as far as growth with A Child Writes and the best part is, it’s free to join.