#iHeartEmmie 2020 // with Toyota
If you’re new around here, you may not know that our oldest daughter Emaline was born with a heart defect called Shone’s Complex. We didn’t know about it while I was pregnant, and the beginning of her life was traumatic for us all. Once she was born and we realized something was wrong, I sat there in the Cardiac ICU, feeling hopeless for what felt like an eternity and I can remember telling my Mom that I could feel that this was happening for a reason. I knew there had to be a bigger reason behind this. After a successful heart surgery, we were finally sent home with her after a month and since then, she has been proving us and the Doctors wrong for the most part. I felt very strongly that this wouldn’t be our last interaction with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA).
Last year, I started getting this burning desire to give back to a place that to this day carries so much pain, yet so much heart for our family: The Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at CHOA. This was a place I called home, from sun up to sun down, while Emmie was still in the hospital. I know what it’s like to leave your newborn baby every evening. I know what it’s like to pray for no phone calls throughout the night (a phone call meant bad news). I know what it’s like to feel an immense amount of anger for everyone else going on about their lives when going to eat a restaurant without your child feels wrong. This is a pain unlike any other that no family should ever have to experience, yet this is unfortunately the reality for many families out there with sick children who require care.
But I also know what it's like to come out on the other side of it. I know firsthand the power of community, the power of faith, and how the power of a positive mindset can get you through those dark times. Once we came home from the hospital we still had a long way to go… Em was on a feeding tube, she had to have throat surgery, and she had several doctors appointments every week for about the first year.
It has taken me a long time to work through and process that time in our lives, and I am still healing from it. But finally, last year I felt called to honor Emaline and her heart journey in a special way. I kept thinking… Okay, what would have made my time in the hospital a little easier? With this in mind, we started #iHeartEmmie, with the intention of giving back to other families who are experiencing similar hardship at CHOA. We asked the House of Dorough community to sponsor gift baskets for all inpatient families in the cardiac unit.
Obviously, no one can take away the pain or trauma these families (or even yourself) are going through. And we don’t know the situation you or these families are in. But I thought to myself that maybe… just maybe, we could give these families a nice surprise one day out of the year. I wanted to tell them “ I don’t know what kind of news you got today, but either way I want you to know you’re not alone. And if I could, I would give you the biggest hug ever.” To me, putting together a gift basket with both useful and comforting items to donate made the most sense.
Last year, the baskets I pulled together were completely based off of House of Dorough donations from the community. I was floored by how many humans wanted to help other humans, honestly. This year, I wanted to take it a step further. I thought to myself, “What if I were able to get this sponsored by a bigger brand… someone who has positive influence and a brand that I believe in?” I pitched the idea to Toyota and they were SO beyond excited to be involved. In fact, Toyota was so excited to be a part of our #iHeartEmmie project that they graciously purchased gift cards for the families to use at Children’s Healthcare to help with meals and other costs while staying there. These gift cards provided every inpatient family aid with costs while they’re impatient, which shockingly add up. Not only that, but they also provided safe and comfortable transportation for the delivery of baskets (this was HUGE - 60 baskets is a lot to transport!)
So on February 27, 2020, I teamed up with Toyota to bring gift baskets to the patients and families in the Cardiac Unit at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Toyota provided us with vehicles to transport all of the gift baskets which was SO helpful. We loaded up a Toyota Sienna and a Toyota Highlander with all of the gift baskets and somehow we even still had room to spare! Each basket included:
Gift cards + temperature controlled tumblers from Toyota
Hygiene products donated by Anthropologie
Blankets and portable phone chargers made possible with donations that our beloved House of Dorough community made!
Additionally, my dear friends at Struggles to Strengths, a program for underprivileged youth, donated handmade candles and helped us put together all of the baskets.
Naomi Hopkins donated her time and talent to capture these beautiful photos, and I am so happy to be able to share them with you all now.
Our main goal here in creating these baskets was to give some hope to these families. The House of Dorough community of readers, as well as the mentioned sponsors above, made this possible. I heard from a recipient the day we delivered and it truly turned her day around.
To read more about Emmie’s heart journey, click here. To donate directly to the Cardiac Unit at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, click here.
RELATED ARTICLES:
The instagram post from the first time Ashley distributed baskets
A blog post summarizing Emmie's health story
a more in depth blog post about the role of CHOA in Emmie's early days