Traumatized Children’s First Christmas wish is to be loved and connected! 

By giving experience-based gifts of comfort, connection, & pure joy to traumatized children, we empower new memories and monumental moments that reveal a brilliant, possible world that will stay with them for a lifetime! Here are three ways you can help:

Gifts of Comfort

GIVE COMFORT

For only $10 you can give a traumatized child a gift of comfort through stuffed animals, blankets, nightlights and other soothing gifts!

GIVE COMFORT
Give Connection

GIVE CONNECTION

For only $18 you can give a traumatized child a gift of connection through games, puzzles, crafts and other time-based gifts!

GIVE CONNECTION
Give Experiences & Time

GIVE TIME

For only $25 you can give a traumatized child a gift of time through tickets, passes, activities and other experience-based gifts!

GIVE TIME
  
sPONSOR A SPECIFIC CHILD

Give a Card,

Make a Card

Christmas Campaign

is an easy & fun way to engage your group, staff, or church in a simple Christmas give-back campaign for traumatized children in throughout the Kansas City metro!

LEARN MORE

DONATE ITEMS

We accept the following items in like new condition: tickets, passes, membership, gift cards, comfort toys, activities, books, coats and winter gear.

MAKE DONATION

pURCHASE ITEMS

Some of our donors prefer to purchase items versus making a monetary donation. We have created an Amazon Wish List just for this purpose.

SEE AMAZON LIST
First Wish Christmas Drive

Q&A

Experience-based gifts create an impactful memory. Traumatized children’s first Christmas wish is to be safe, loved, and connected! By giving experiences of art, culture, education, & pure joy to traumatized children, we empower monumental moments that reveal a brilliant, possible world that will stay with them for a lifetime! This Annual Christmas drive outreach program impacted the lives of 1,000 KC victimized children last year!

Victimized children desperately need connection, and they need to build trust. Often this is tricky, primarily when new relationships are forming. Traumatized children do not just open up and share their hearts. They need connections first! A “connection” often occurs through shared experiences. Often victimized children have NEVER experienced normal childhood activities like going to the zoo, museums, amusement parks, etc. Even something as simple as a family movie night is a foreign experience. These experiences open communication, remove discomfort, and start to build/deepen trust and relationships.

We have 3 different types of experienced-based gifts we have identified as impactful to children with trauma:

Gifts of Comfort

Gifts of comfort help to provide soothing reassurance to children who have experienced trauma. By comforting them and bringing them a sense of safety we can help a child begin to take steps toward healing. This includes stuffed animals, blankets, night lights, sensory and soothing toys.

Gifts of Connection

Family focused games, toys of comfort, & soothing items help traumatized children have positive experiences inside of the home. Creating new memories to deepen their relationships & create connection and trust with their caregivers. This includes interactive items that are not considered toys like cooking supplies, crafts, etc.

Gifts of Time

Passes, tickets, or certificates to have experiences outside of the home allows children to create new memories, expand possibilities, deepen relationships, & create opportunities to expand their world in group settings. This includes gift cards to restaurants and coffee shops to have one-on-one heartfelt connections.

There are specific things we know that traumatized children want and need. We are accepting donations of the following items in like new condition:

  • Tickets/Passes/Memberships (kid activities)
  • Gift Cards (restaurants, retail, etc)
  • Comfort Toys (blankets, stuffed animals, etc)
  • Activities (games, puzzles, crafts)
  • Books (education, children’s books, Bibles, etc.)
  • Coats & Winter Gear (kids, women, & mens)

Contact the 10.18 office at donations@1018strategy.org to coordinate pickup/drop off.

There are specific things we know that traumatized children want and need. We have created a registry with Amazon where items can be purchased. If you desire to purchase an item please go to our Christmas Wish Lists:

Donations can be mailed to our office address of 705B SE Melody Lane #114, Lees Summit, MO 64063

By giving time-saving memberships, we provide the gift of time. For example, if we gifted annual grocery delivery memberships to 250 frontline families serving victimized children, we could impact the lives of approximately 1,000 CHILDREN with the most precious gift of all, time! Families can gain 5 hours per week from their membership, which means that the children RECEIVE 65,000 MORE HOURS from their caregivers throughout the year! To a victimized child, this is huge and life-changing!

Give a Card, Make a Card Give-Back Campaign is an easy & fun way to engage your family, friends, group, or church. Simply ask each person or family to bring a gift card of any amount and make a Christmas card to go with it. Giving each child a special Christmas message of love along with their gift card. Once all of the cards are gathered, send us an email and let us know they are ready for pickup! We accept donations for our Christmas drive year round.

DRIVE TESTIMONIALS​

Impacting the Lives of Traumatized Children

So Grateful!

“We all loved the experienced-based gifts and the Christmas drive was a complete success! The kids had a really tough year and to know that someone was thinking about them and finding ways to touch their hearts meant so much! It was amazing seeing all of the kids have so much fun. All of your volunteers were so sweet and genuine. Thank you for thinking of traumatized children. ❤”

You Made Our Christmas & Year!

“This was our first time getting wonderful gifts from you all for my foster kids. You all were so thoughtful on the tickets provided and then puzzles/games, coats, scarves, and the list goes on. I was approached with loving individuals who were so excited to help others. You made our Christmas and our year much more fun with lots of events to do. Thank you so much!”

You Made Christmas Bright for our Kids!

“Thank you so much for supporting families like ours! Helping kids through traumatic situations is so hard and the Christmas drive made us feel so loved. The kids cannot wait to use the tickets!!! We loooove the gifts of experiences, such a neat idea for kids with trauma!!”

Impact the life of a Traumatized child

Give a heartfelt gift this holiday season so a traumatized child can create new memories and experiences.

Sponsor a Child Learn More

Sponsor a Child Today!

Give a Heartfelt Christmas to a Child!