Hi everyone! I hope you can take a minute of your time to read this special and important post. I think it affects everyone one of us in one way or another.

A lot of us parents are sending off our kids to their first day of school this week. Along with the anticipation and excitement of a new school year comes anxiety and nervousness about the challenges the new year holds. Will they like their new teacher? Will they get along with their classmates? Will they do well academically? All of us parents experience these same concerns. To some parents, however, these are the least of their worries.

Some parents are faced with the unthinkable: their child is diagnosed with a life-threatening disease. In addition to the emotional toll that this devastating news can take on any parent, to some there are financial challenges as well. Put yourselves in their shoes for a moment. As some families are setting a budget for school supplies, you are trying to scrape together money for cancer treatments. While another set of parents feels bad that they can’t afford to buy the latest designer clothes for their child, you are crushed with helplessness when you realize the doctors can’t help you without insurance.

Every parent wants to ease their child’s pain, but what if you can’t? Bandaging a cut is easy; watching your baby struggle to survive is not. This is where Children’s Hospitals National Foundation comes in. You don’t have to fight the battle alone!

Children’s Hospitals National Foundation (www.chnf.org) raises money and awareness to help children with diseases. This nonprofit, founded in 2102, organizes charity events and plans hospital visits for volunteers to cheer up patients. They also help fund cancer research to prevent future diagnoses. Check out their Facebook page, where you can subscribe to receive more information daily.

Awareness is the first step and once you learn what this great organization is doing for these children, I’m sure you will feel compelled to help in some way. Every little bit helps: from a cup of coffee sold at a fundraiser to a warm smile for a bedridden child, it doesn’t take much to give back!

Your helping hand can make a world of a difference in the lives of these children and their families.

This is not a sponsored post.