The CF Rainbow Tree is back once again! This year we’re onto another donation adventure. Although the pandemic has changed hospital life and policy, we are still able to go forward with this project. So … I’m in need of your help and your polymer clay Christmas ornament donations. Can you make polymer clay Christmas Ornaments? Are you willing to help? I’m calling on you; that’s right you. I’m calling on all clayers worldwide! I need your help decorating a Christmas tree for Cystic Fibrosis patients again this year. Please see the information below for details on making your clay Christmas ornament donation.
This is Important to Me, Because I Have Cystic Fibrosis
Occasionally I take a moment (just a quick one mind you) to write about my life story and living with Cystic Fibrosis (CF). I took my longest hiatus [almost four months to be exact] from polymer clay in 2011 when I had half of my lung removed as a direct result of my CF. If you’re sitting here wondering what CF is, your best explanation is to visit our foundation website.
With anywhere from 4 to 5 hospitalizations a year, my hospital is (at times) almost like a second home. Three years ago I even got to spend Christmas there … well a portion of it, being released the day before Christmas. Being in the hospital is bad enough, being there over Christmas is far worse. Last year’s Christmas Trees were a big success and we’ve been invited to decorate several more for multiple places again this year for the CF patients.
CF Rainbow Tree – Clay Christmas Ornament Donation
What to Make: Make as many ornaments as you would like to help me decorate our tree. Due to a change in floor, we do not have as many trees this year.
If you don’t know what to make, choose either Christmas themed ornaments or purple and red ornaments. Why purple and red? Every disease has a ribbon, ours is purple with a red rose in the middle. Why? Because CF is all about “65 Roses”. Read all about 65 Roses here.
Please Note: Due to new quarantine and hospital restrictions, all ornaments must be received in a plastic baggie. Please send your ornaments in small ziplocks bags if possible.
University Hospitals, Cystic Fibrosis Center & Patient Unit Restrictions
When Are They Due: The ornaments need to be in the mail to me by November 1st, 2020. Feel free to mail them sooner if you would like.
I am coordinating the decorating of the tree with the hospital staff and need to have the ornaments when they are ready to decorate. This ship date will allow me to receive all the ornaments from across the US and abroad.
Mail ornaments to: KatersAcres, PO Box 296, Newton Falls, OH 44444
What Else Can I Do: Contribute to the small gift & food fund to stock the pantry for CF adult inpatients via monetary donation through PayPal. Your monetary gift is tax refundable. Please donate here.
Use #CFRainbowTree across social media.
Other Information & FAQs:
What Will Be Done with the Ornaments? The ornaments will be used to decorate trees in the inpatient CF center. For every inpatient that comes through the doors to stay a few days, a week, two weeks, or any duration they will be allowed to choose any ornament to take off the tree and take home with them. Your heartfelt ornament will be a token of love they can treasure, even during a difficult hospital stay. After Christmas, nurses, doctors, respiratory & physical therapists, and other staff who treat patients with Cystic Fibrosis and have dedicated their lives to their care, will also be allowed to choose an ornament to take home from the remaining ornaments on the Christmas tree.
May I Send a Card with My Ornament? You may absolutely send a card with your ornament. If you send a card with your ornament, be sure to attach your ornament to your card in some way so the two remain together.
Will I Get to See the Finished Tree? Not this year! Due to hospital regulations, we are not allowed in to decorate the tree. I will be dropping off all of the ornaments and the nursing staff will be decorating for us.
From the bottom of my heart, from all of us in the CF community who battle CF on a daily basis, we thank you for your time, energy, & thought you have put into making an ornament to give to someone who will spend their Christmas holiday away from family and in the confines of a hospital. Bless you.
Please SHARE this CF Rainbow Tree post with your groups, pages, and social media to help spread the word to the polymer community about this endeavor. Thank you in advance.
