Ten years ago this week, Bags of Fun KC was born! During the first week of April in 2011 we began our journey “on a wing and a prayer” of bringing the healing power of play to children in the KC community faced with fighting a long term, life threatening condition. Since then, we have grown immensely from a one or two person operation to a solid non-profit foundation with regular volunteers, staff, a board of directors, and corporate partners. Since our “opening day” we have delivered almost 1500 bags of fun and hundreds of sibling bags to families from our community and families from elsewhere being treated in our community.
While COVID- 19 is on the top of everyone’s minds, we are dedicated to our mission and we will continue to fill bag requests as we get them from the hospitals. In the month of March we delivered 28 bags of fun as well as 19 sibling bags to children fighting cancer and other long term life threatening conditions. Due to changes at the hospitals, there is an increased need for specialty toys and items for children currently admitted. Children and families in the midst of their unique medical crises need to heal their health and hearts. In the last two weeks, we donated single use crafts and easy games (over 250 items) for patient use while in isolation as hospital playrooms have been shut down and patients are not allowed to leave rooms except for treatment, as well as having only one guardian with them at a time. We feel that by giving these items we are bringing these families distraction through the power of play while they are stuck in their rooms. We will continue to fill special requests from our hospitals on an ongoing basis.
And some GOOD NEWS: The $2 trillion stimulus bill which was signed into law over the last week expands the charitable deduction to all taxpayers for a year, and boosts tax incentives for corporate giving, according to analysts. The stimulus bill will allow a deduction up to $300 in cash giving for the 2020 tax year without itemization making it a “universal deduction”. The bill also lifts the cap on annual giving from 60 percent of adjusted gross income to 100 percent. For corporate charitable giving, the bill raises the annual limit from 10 percent to 25 percent of taxable income. At Bags of Fun KC we remain hopeful that donations this year will help offset the cancellation and postponement of many of our fundraising opportunities.
As always we remain grateful and humbled by our community of donors and supporters. THANK YOU for your continued support! Your generosity has given us purpose and meaning for the nine years, and brings us HOPE that we can continue to bring even more JOY, LAUGHTER, and RELIEF to children and their families for years to come!
Donations to Bags of Fun KC are tax deductible. Our tax identification number is 47-0946567. Donations can be made anytime clicking the ling below or by mailing a check.