Corporate Volunteer Day

Sightlines, LLC recently held a volunteer day during their annual company meeting and they were thoughtful enough to partner with Kisses from Katie for their event.  A large group of volunteers worked tirelessly all day to make pillows, and by day’s end they had completed over 250 pillows with another 100 more “in progress”!  While many cut, sewed, stitched and stuffed pillows, others worked to secure donations for our second annual “A Night to Remember” Silent Auction in November.  Their efforts yielded some very exciting items such as a session at Camp Lake Winnipesaukee, gift cards to a local Sushi restaurant, and a Hasbro toy package to name but a few!  We would like to send a big thank you to all of the Sightlines employees who gave such incredible support to our organization.  It’s efforts such as these that allow our organization to grow and support more children in more hospitals.

TGI Friday's Dinner

On April 15th, Kisses from Katie partnered with TGI Friday's for a fundraising dinner. Kisses from Katie received a portion of the proceeds from each table who handed in one of our flyers. A BIG thank you to everyone who came, enjoyed dinner that night, and helped make the event a success! We had a great time seeing so many people come to our event. We appreciate all the support!

Corporate Donation

Kisses from Katie Inc. is excited to announce the donation of two brand new laptop computers from H&R Block.  This kind donation will allow us to start our fourth program at Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital, empowering the parents of sick children to research their child’s illness while never leaving their loved one’s bedside.  We are so grateful to our friends at H&R Block for their kind donation and we are excited to get our next program off the ground in the coming weeks! A special thanks to Archie Jackson and Mark Jurgot for working to obtain this donation for us. The New Haven Register wrote an article about the donation. Click here to read it.

In the Spirit of Giving

Recently, a family showed their true holiday spirit by helping Kisses from Katie in a big way!  Kisses from Katie was contacted by Megan Manning who had seen our website and was touched by our story and what we are trying to accomplish.  She wanted to help our organization and contacted us asking if we could use help making pillows.  Of course we welcomed her participation in our organization!

While Megan and her family were together over the holidays,they went to work making pillows to support our Helping Hearts program.  We never expected the amazing result.  This past week, we received over 150 handmade pillows in the mail – all from one family!  Clearly, the Manning/Ricter family knows what the true meaning of Christmas is and set out to celebrate it. 

Thank you Megan and family!  We appreciate the support and are in awe of how many pillows you made.  We are humbled that you chose to spend your holiday busily making pillows for children in pediatric intensive care units.  We know that each pillow was made with love and cannot wait to hand them out.

Second Annual Toy Drive

The second annual Kisses from Katie and Milford Police Department Toy Drive was a huge success!  This year, the toy drive was expanded to two days at the Connecticut Post Mall.  Kisses from Katie collected toys and monetary donations during the two days.  Over 1,000 toys were collected for the hospital and over $5,000 was donated to Kisses from Katie.   The toys were delivered to Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital and will be distributed to children who have to spend the holidays at the hospital.  We hope that the toys will help make the holidays a little bit brighter for all the children there.  Many thanks go out to our ever growing band of volunteers who helped make the two days a huge success.  With the numerous volunteers, we were able to surpass our total toy and monetary donations from last year!  We’d especially like to thank the Milford Police Department for their support and help in coordinating this event.  We look forward to many more!  The New Haven Register wrote an article about the event. Click here to read the piece. Click here to see pictures from the event and drop off. 

A Night to Remember

On Saturday November 7, 2009, Kisses from Katie held its first annual “A Night to Remember” Silent Auction and Raffle at Eli’s on Whitney in Hamden.   On the weekend that marked the 1 year anniversary of Katie’s passing, over 80 Kisses from Katie supporters came together for the organization’s first big event.   Early in the evening everyone was told that given the brevity of the weekend, “we can choose to have fun, or we can choose to be sad, and tonight we choose to have fun.”   Everyone had fun!

After a great meal, Dr. Megan McCabe, a doctor who passionately cared for Katie during her stays at Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital, insightfully spoke about Katie, her life, and her legacy that has been created through the organization.  What’s On Tap?, a local a cappella musical group followed, with a wonderful combination of golden-oldies and reworked modern pieces.  Music and dancing (if you could call it that!) capped off the evening’s entertainment. 

Throughout the night people continued to bid on auction and raffle items, with the competition reaching a feverish pace as the bidding came to a close.  Thanks to the generosity of those in attendance, and the kindness of an anonymous donor that agreed to match all donations during the evening up to $5,000, Kisses from Katie raised over $10,000 to support our programs.

Thank you to everyone that attended, supported our cause, and made for a very enjoyable evening!  We look forward to many more to come!

Click here to see some pictures of the evening. If anyone has pictures, we'd love to see them!

Shop for a Cause Day

After weeks of selling passes, Kisses from Katie was selected by Macy’s to advertize the organization and sell more passes in the Milford store on October 17th, as part of Macy’s Shop for a Cause Day.  The event was a great opportunity for the organization to inform people about the goals of Kisses from Katie while raising money to support ongoing programs.   The event helped Kisses from Katie raise almost $2,500! Thanks to all who purchased a pass and helped make this event successful!

Cork's Women's Mini-Marathon

Kisses from Katie hit Ireland in a big way this weekend!  On Sunday, September 27, 2009, over 10,000 women participated in the 28th Evening Echo Women’s Mini-Marathon to raise money for various charities.  Participants entered the race, obtained sponsorship, and joined together for a range of worthy causes.  This four mile course took place in Cork, Ireland, where Alan grew up.  Antoinette, Katie’s grandmother, recruited over 20 family and friends to participate in the event and raise money for Kisses from Katie.  The weather was perfect, the company was great, and the cause was a worthy one! Click here to see the pictures from the day’s event. Thank you to the following participants who helped raise money for Kisses from Katie: Antoinette Manning, Hillary Martin, Ciana Martin, Agnes O'Sullivan, Collette O'Sullivan, Audrey O'Sullivan, Una O'Sullivan, Angela O'Sullivan, Maria O'Sullivan, Maria Wallace, Geraldine Wallace, Ann Forde, Cliona Lehane, Gina Kearney, Vivian O'Sullivan, Lorraine O'Donovan, Selena Philpot, Mary Sisk, Patrice Sisk, Hazel Kenny, Leona Drinan, Natasha Cummins, and Charlotte Cummins.

What One Girl Can Do

Think back to when you were 9 years old.  Birthdays were still pretty important at that age.  Planning a party and wondering what gifts you’d received topped the excitement.  Now imagine having the party, but instead of receiving gifts, asking all of your friends to bring money to donate to a new charity.  That means not getting any presents for you.  That’s just what one girl did. 

Bridget was one of my students when she was in first grade.  When her and her mom were planning her birthday party, Bridget told her mom that instead of receiving presents from her friends, she wanted everyone to bring something to donate to Kisses from Katie, Inc.  Her mom contacted me and together we decided that if her friends brought money, Bridget could go and pick out fleece with the money to use when making the Helping Hearts pillows. 
I took Bridget out recently to use the donations (over $200!) to buy fleece for the pillows.  We had a great time!  Bridget was able to buy enough fleece to make an incredible amount of pillows.  The joy on her face was apparent – I’m sure the ice cream helped!  The whole day, she talked about how many kids would be getting pillows and how they’d be so happy. 
I’m amazed at what one girl can do – and did!  Bridget is a great girl with an incredible heart.  She clearly showed that through her selfless act.  We had a great time together.  Thank you, Bridget, for helping get one of our programs off the ground and running!  We think you’re a great girl with a HUGE heart!

Our First "Do It Yourself" Fundraiser for Kisses from Katie!

Recently, the fifth grade Challenge Language Arts Group at Osborn Hill School held a “CMT Relief” event.  Third, fourth, and fifth grade students at OHS were busy taking their Connecticut Mastery Tests and the students decided that a little bit of stress relief was needed.  The students sold clown noses to the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders and they all engaged in a little bit of humorous activity to help relieve the stresses of testing.  The students raised an amazing $209!  They decided to donate that money to Kisses from Katie.  A BIG thank you to all of the students who participated and showed their support!  We are honored to know that these students thought of us and Katie in the middle of their testing! 

Toy Drop Off at Yale New Haven Children's Hospital

On December 15th, the Milford Police and Kisses From Katie brought the toys from our recent toy drive to Yale New Haven Children's Hospital. Many people from Yale were eager to help and extremely appreciative of our efforts. We're glad that Yale could receive a kiss from Katie during the Holidays. Thank you to all who helped make this event a huge success! Click here to see some pictures from the drop off.

Milford Police and Kisses From Katie Toy Drive

Our first event surpassed all of our hopes thanks to the Milford Police and the kind patrons of the Connecticut Post Mall.  The goal of stuffing 2 cruisers was achieved after only half an hour!  We ended the day with so many toys that we almost filled a 14 foot truck.  Thanks to the Milford Police, their families, our family and friends, and of course the very generous people who supported the Toy Drive, those children spending the Holidays at Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital will be the first to be touched by Katie’s legacy.  Those children who will find themselves in the hospital this holiday season deserve every opportunity to smile.  Hopefully, with a kiss from Katie we can add another smile to their day. Click here to see more pictures from our first event.