5k and kids fun run results!!!

We had a fabulous fundraiser yesterday! There were over 160 participants and we raised nearly $10k!!!! Pictures are coming soon. The results are posted on http://www.littlehandsmakeabigdifference.com

A congratulations to our winners....Tom Lichty and Laura Witek-Jones!!!

5k fundraiser, October 23rd!

Last year we hosted a 5k race to raise money to donate Build A Bear stuffed animals at Christmas time. Well, our fundraiser was so successful, we were able to donate Build A Bear stuffed animals at Christmas time...and keep donating until this past July! So, this year we decided we must do another 5k...and we must do it bigger and better than last years! So, here's the details....

Thanks to our FABULOUS, AMAZING, INCREDIBLE, AND SUPPORTIVE sponsors...Rockford Health System is our Platinum level sponsor, and our bronze sponsors are Midwest Orthopedics at Rush, Sargento Cheese, Rock Road, Inc, and onlinefitness.com....we are planning a really fun event:

5k run/walk* race and kids fun run (*all skill levels are welcome)
October 23rd, 9am, kids fun run following 5k
Rock Cut State Park, Olson Lake
$25 for pre-entry before October 16th, (register by October 8th to guarantee proper tshirt size)
$30 after October 16th
$20 kids fun run

Every participant gets a tshirt. Medals for the first 3 male and first 3 female finishers.

PLEASE JOIN US!!! It will be a fun, rewarding experience.

You can register online at http://www.active.com/running/loves-park-il/little-hands-make-a-big-difference-5k-2011

Or, please email me at littlehandsmakeabigdifference@heuerman.com and I can send you a registration form!

See you in October!

HUGE UPDATE!!!

Oh. My. Goodness. It's been ages since we have updated and it is not because we forgot about the blog....or about all our dedicated readers. It's because we forgot our email/password combination. Blogger has incredible security, I could not get on for months. Then tonight, in a moment of sheer brilliance, the email/password came to me....and here we are!!!! Lots to update on!

This summer we had two big fundraisers. One was a garage sale/lemonade stand. We had several families donate items or a percentage of their garage sale profits to us and we held a lemonade stand at the garage sale. It was a lovely day, and a successful fundraiser, what more could we ask for? We got visits from some special friends that we hadn't seen in a while and of course, our loyal supporters stopped by too! The lemonade was delicious and Jack was thrilled. The brilliant idea of the fundraiser was given to us by an amazing friend, and we have plans to make it even bigger next year!

Last weekend we hosted a lemonade stand at Rockford Memorial Hospital. And, when I say lemonade stand....I mean LEMONADE STAND!!!! They had this amazing stand that they loaned us and we sold lemonade for 2 straight hours....10 GALLONS worth! The Rockford Memorial Hospital community came out in droves and their generosity was overwhelming. We raised over $630 in just 2 hours!!! Incredible!!!

President and CEO of RHS, Gary Kaatz stops by for some lemonade.

Look at this lemonade stand, it's fabulous! Jack worked really hard selling his product to his customers, but he couldn't have done it without his loyal staff....Max, Abbie, Izzie, and Mia!



What a fabulous summer of fundraising! We can't wait to make a donation, any suggestions of where you'd like to see us donate?

Easter!!!!

We are so happy to be donating Build A Bear stuffed animals to 60 hospitalized kids! We are going with an Easter/spring theme this time! Lucky recipients are at Rush University Children's Hospital, American Family Children's Hospital in Madison, and Children's Memorial Hospital.

40 of the 60 stuffed animals!


Here are some of our springtime Build A Bear animals....we tried something different this time and are putting the nurses and doctors scrubs in the box with the animal. Jack thought the kids may enjoy dressing their animals themselves!

Working in their pajamas. What more could you ask for in a job?

We may not have invented the assembly line, but we sure did add a "cuteness factor."

These stuffed animals get the royal treatment....special "get well soon" hugs.

The Easter stuffed animals....peacocks, lambs, and bunnies.

Holiday Update.

Oh my, it's been a while since I have updated! We have been so busy, I haven't had a chance to sit down and let everyone know what we have been up to!

In early December, we called the child life specialist at Rush University Children's Hospital to see if they would be interested in accepting another donation from us. The CLS I talked to was giddy, and said "yes, we want them!" as soon as I stated my reason for calling. So, we packed up 25 of these adorable Build a Bear Stuffed animals for Rush! We figured, while we were in Chicago, we may as well bring a delivery to the amazing kids at Children's Memorial....so we packed up 25 more for them!

There is cute, and there is cuuuuuuute. Can I just say, these are cuuuuuuute. Everyone who saw them, wanted them!

Holly and Hal Moose. Hal's antlers light up. Holly is just adorable sporting that little red bow!



Snowflake bear. If you could touch him through the screen, you would want him. Snuggliest bear we've made yet!

Rudolph and Clarice. They both talk and have a nose/heart that lights up. We also had the abominable snowman, but forgot to take a photo of him. How could that happen?!?!?

Here is my car, all packed up with 50 stuffed animals.

Jack was asked to be the honorary co-chair of the RMH toy drive. By that, I mean, he got to sign his name a few hundred times and be charming and cute on demand. He did a great job! We donated video game controllers, PS3 video games, dolls, arts and crafts books, and of course....Build A Bear stuffed animals (40 of them!)

Jack and I were asked to give a speech, and give a face to the "hospitalized child" that would benefit from the toy drive. It is always an honor to represent all the amazing children and families that RMH serves every year.

**on a personal note, this was the Santa that told my boys that the reindeer prefer bacon over carrots, and the reason my entire house smelled of bacon on Christmas Eve :)

We took a few weeks off, but are now looking forward to 2011!! Jack has big visions for what he wants his charity to do, so stay tuned!!!!

5k Fundraiser

I am SO happy to update about our latest fundraiser! On October 16th, we had a beautiful day to host a 5k run and kids fun run. The day was perfect, the weather was georgous, the racers were amazing....an absolute success! There were 70 participants and we are PROUD to say that we raised $4700!!!!! That is nearly 200 hospitalized children that we will be able to give a a Build A Bear stuffed animal to this holiday season.

A HUGE thank you to our sponsors, we could not have done it without you! Rockford Health Systems, Rock Road Companies, and Sargento cheese....we appreciate their support in our organization and our mission to lift the spirits of hospitalized children!

Jack O'Neil, founder of Little Hands Make A Big Difference, with 2 very special girls that were recipients of donated Build A Bear animals. The BEST part of our fundraiser was having Kailee and Shelby there to help him distribute prizes to the racers.

The kids fun run! Look at them GO!!!!!

The first racer to cross the finish line, 5k in under 19 minutes. WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!

We need YOUR HELP!!!!!

Please watch our new you tube video. This was just made for us by someone who heard Jack's story and wanted to help us out! All you have to do is watch the video, and give it a thumbs up or comment on the video.



Thanks SO MUCH, we are so blessed to watch Jack's vision of spreading comfort and love to hospitalized children come true!



http://www.youtube.com/my_favorites?feature=mhum



Please join us October 16th, at Rock Cut State Park, Olson Lake, 9am. We are having a 3 mile run/walk and a 1/4 mile kids fun run. Every registration fee will donate a stuffed Build A Bear to a hospitalized child this holiday season. Every racer gets a gift from us, just because we love you for joining us!