This holiday season Tammie Rafferty plans on giving the gift of hope to many mentally handicapped children in need. By doing so, she receives unmeasurable joy from the smiles that fill the young faces.
“I call it Project Believe because I want to give these kids something to believe in and show them there are people who believe in them,” Rafferty said.
Two years ago Rafferty’s mentally disabled daughter was hospitalized at Christmas time and she was heartbroken by being a witness to all the other young patients who were all alone. It became Rafferty’s personal mission to spread some cheer all around.
That year Rafferty and her mother went out and bought a supply of last minute gifts to have Santa deliver to the children. “Something as small as a calendar rendered shrieks of excitement,” Rafferty said.
Now for the second consecutive year, Rafferty is accepting donations of gifts or financial contributions to help make Christmas brighter for the patients. Volunteers to wrap the presents are also welcome so the children can experience the thrill of opening them.
“Giving to them brings me more joy than anything I could ever receive,” Rafferty said.
The Cincinnati Children’s College Hill campus is a residential facility and many of the patients are in foster care. Once they are admitted into the hospital they have no one, not even a foster family. Rafferty plans to make sure the children are never left out again during the holidays.
Currently, Rafferty is only able to provide for one unit of the hospital, which houses 10-12 children between the ages 8-16. There are some specific guidelines on what the children can and cannot have. “I always make sure each gets gloves, hat, socks, candy, stuffed animal, and a stocking along with other small items the budget allows for. Someday i would like to provide pajamas for every child,” Rafferty said.
Her goal is to eventually be able to provide for the entire facility, which is over 100 children of all ages.
By this time next year, Rafferty hopes to have established Project Believe as a non-profit organization.
As a gift that keeps on giving, she would also like to provide support as a mentor throughout the year.
Anyone who would like to many any size of a contribution, can contact Tammie Rafferty at tammierafferty@yahoo.com or at 937-877-1241.
Experience the joys of giving the gift of hope and some holiday cheer to the children in need with Project Believe.
