The Alexandra Chiles Foundation provides bead kits and other creative activities for very sick girls to help alleviate the stress of their illness and provide some welcome relief from their sickness. Having had a child with a tumor in her back, I have some understanding of how important these small acts of kindess can be for someone who is sick. I'm sure this organization has helped brighten the day of thousands of sick girls over the years and will continue this important work for many years to come!
My daughter and I first found out about the Alexandra Chiles Foundation through the Stanford Hills Chapter of National Charity League in 2000. Sadly, Alex had died just a few months before we joined NCL. We learned about the work she did creating various crafts and bead projects for hundreds of hospitalized children while herself fighting her battle against cancer. Here we were: a healthy mother and daughter. Our own volunteer work paled in comparison to what Alex had done.
Over the past ten years I have worked on Alexandra Chiles Foundation projects with both of my daughters. We have packaged beautiful craft kits for hospitalized children who crave something to do while recuperating. The instructions for preparing the kits are lovingly laid out with clear attention to detail. The kits are a gift in themselves and then through craftsmanship become a gift for sick children to use or give as gifts to others. The packaging materials are colorful and of high quality. All items are carefully counted and compiled. Every last detail is considered.
Some of my most fun and creative times have been during "Craft Kit Parties" which we hosted many times in our home. Several people gathered to put together one or more types of Craft Kits - which ever were most needed at the time. Anita would arrive with her wonderful array of beautiful beads and other necessary materials, and we had the fun of choosing fun potential combinations...enough for someone to complete the project, but with enough extras that the recipient still had choices! And what wasn't as visible...all the love that also went into each little kit. Knowing how many kits had been requested by different organizations, we knew that at least part of a day could be made a little brighter for a child who could have the fun of creating something beautiful! I wish I still lived in the bay area so I could host or attend more of these gatherings!
My four children and I have been involved with the Alexandra Chiles Foundation for over two years. Mrs. Anita Chiles runs a fabulous operation which we are proud to be associated. Two of my girls are part of the Stanford Hills National Charity League. We have helped organization get togethers with friends to assemble bead kits for the foundation. Mrs. Chiles is incredibly organized so that we cannot help but produce a kit which a child receives while she/he is receiving her/his treatment and find it rewarding. Each kit is beautiful packaged, labeled and ALWAYS holds everything required to produce a keychains, bracelets, necklaces or lanyard.
Anita Chiles began this charity in memory of her daughter Alexandra. Out of such sadness came tremendous giving and happiness to others.
The Alexandra Chiles Foundation provides bead kits for children in the hospital. The kits are laboriously put together by volunteers. The patients are given the kits and make bracelets for themselves and loved ones. This project provides a wonderful distraction from their illness for these hospitalized kids and the finished bracelet provides many smiles as well.
The Alexandra Chiles Foundation does invaluable work in raising the spirits of children and young adults during their hospital stays and treatments. Often activities for children undergoing treatment are designed for very young children, leaving pre-teens and teenagers with little to occupy their time. The foundation provides activities that challenge their imagination while entertaining and enriching their lives.
I believe that the mind can help heal the body, and the activities help to provide a sense of accomplishment that must raise their spirits.
The Alexandra Chiles Foundation creates bead kits for children in hospitals. It provides the kids the opportunity to enjoy crafting and to create gifts they can give to others. As volunteers, my daughter and I assemble the bead kits in our home. Simple activities that we can do together while talking or watching TV. A great way to help children in need from the comfort of your own home.
Before moving out of state in 2008, I used to volunteer regularly for the Alexandra Chiles Foundation. I hosted a number of "craft kit assembly parties" and invited friends of all ages to participate. It was a fun way to volunteer while socializing with friends. The craft kits provided by this foundation offers hospitalized children a creative outlet that can be performed from the bed if needed. It also helps patients and guests deal with challenging circumstances by providing them with an interactive activity. Finally, the foundation relies heavily on local teen volunteers to assemble the craft kits for their peers, other teens and children in local hospitals.
The Alexandra Chiles Foundation serves a community of children who are fighting cancer. The foundation provides the gift of keeping these children's mind occupied while working on a craft that is fun and useful at the same time.
I remember well when Alexandra was at Children's Hospital and she made oragami ornaments to decorate Christmas trees that her family passed on the friends. It was Alexandra's idea to do beading and other crafts to alleviate the tedious time while going through chemotherapy. She always kept busy with her hands during those long periods of time at the hospital.
Thousands of stricken children have been the happy recipients of beading kits provided, at first by the Chiles family, and now by the foundation. Alexandra's creative vision to entertain children with cancer needs to be expanded to reach children all over the United States and some day, beyond the boundaries of the US.
It is a joy, pleasure and honor to contribute to this most worthwhile cause and foundation.
Alexandra Chiles was a member of our neighborhood family. A beautiful girl with sparkling blue eyes and a winsome smile, Alex was diagnosed with leukemia as a young teen. As she battled the disease over many years, much of her time was spent in ICU. To combat boredom, anger, pain and frustration, Alex requested crafting materials. Day after day, she beaded: bracelets, lanyards, anything small and pretty. Then she sent them out to other kids in the hospital - kids she had never met. Friends and strangers loved Alex.
When Alex died, her mother determined to find a way to continue to give the gift of Alex's generosity and hope. Many friends, including myself, offered to help to assemble the small beading kits and to deliver them to our local children's hospital. To work with Anita is to catch her vision and to be astonished by her tireless efforts to satisfy the requests for ACF craft kits. I wish I could do even more.
My daughters and I learned about this organization through National Charity League. This organization donates bead kits to make bracelets to bed bound children in hospitals. It allows children to pass time pleasantly and produce something they value.
I worked with Anita Chiles on two different Saturdays. We assembled boxes with jewelery making kits for various local hospitals.
Everything was well organized and ran smoothly.
I enjoyed being with Anita; she was very appreciative of my help.
I was happy to contribute to this very worthy cause and plan on
working with Anita again.
We receive bead kits from the foundation for our hospitalized patients. It has been great for our patients to be able to do beading at their bedside. It is very therapeutic and they really enjoy it. It is nice to have something to distract from the hospital environment. The kits we receive are easy for our nursing staff and volunteers to grab in a hurry.
I have worked with Anita Chiles this year as a liaison with the National Charity League. We have had some of our mothers and daughters assemble the kits that are donated to the children's hospitals. All of our volunteers have enjoyed the work and felt good about what they were doing. Those of us fortunate enough to have our health can often only sympathize for those undergoing life threatening illnesses, but thanks to Anita's work, we can support these children and make a small difference in their lives.
The kits are fun for people of all ages to assemble and are done in a cute and organized manner. It is quite a simple concept that truly makes change.
I have enjoyed working with the organization not only because they are enriching the lives of children, but also because it has such low overhead. Anita does the purchasing and outreach herself, and any donations go directly to the kits and the children. It is just one fabulous woman doing great things!
I have been involved with the Foundation from it's inception, as I am a personal friend of the family, and knew Alexandra since she was a baby. I have been involved as a financial supporter, a fundraiser and a committee member as we organized a successful first annual Garden Party fundraiser here in our home town of Atherton. I believe in the Mission of the foundation, and want to carry on the spirit of service that defined Alexandra as a loving and caring person wanting to help other children who face serious illness. The founder, Anita Chiles and her husband work tirelessly to reach out to youth groups fostering community service by building the Craft Kits for so many children in pediatric and adolescent hospital care. Anita Chiles its an amazing woman who has soldiered this effort for many years, promoting awareness to high school and youth charity groups about how they too can become involved, working as an example to young people. She is an inspiration increasing awareness of life threatening disease in children and teenagers and has carried her daughter's legacy selflessly to others in our community doing by proving that one person CAN make a difference! I have enjoyed assisting Anita in her fundraising efforts, spreading awareness in the community and helping further Alexandra's dream of helping children through creative means.