Blog

Mark your calendars for Saturday, January 14, from 3 – 6 p.m.

Lollipop Kids Foundation is hosting a Photo Opp especially for children with disabilities and their families.  It’s a great get together held at the McLean Community Center – in the Old Fire House. 1440 Chain Bridge Rd – close to Old Dominion intersection

We will also have a raffle to raise money for the Lollipop Kids Foundation.  Betty Morales will be raffling off a one hour, kid friendly photo shoot, and A Second Me will be offering two packages of 3 hours of errand services (think what you could get done while we work for 3 hours on your to do list!).

Be sure to join us.  We’d appreciate an RSVP just so we can get a rough headcount.  If you could send an email to info@lollipopkidsfoundation.org, we’ll be sure to save as many spots as you need!

We look forward to seeing you there!

The Lollipop Kids Foundation is pleased to announce our 2nd Annual Charity Gala, Thursday October 6, 2011 from 6-10pm. This year the Gala will be held at the Carnegie Institution for Science at 1530 P Street NW in Washington, DC.

The Gala’s theme is “Celebrate Hope.” The Lollipop Kids Foundation believes that even when disabilities have no cure, hope sustains, motivates and enriches outcomes. Hope allows each one of us the ability to resist hoplessness and “giving up” – to keep going in the midst of what may seem insurmountable circumstances.

Hope is a choice, and once it is chosen, it allows the family, parent and child with disabilities to truly live, regardless of the diagnosis or the odds. The Lollipop Kids Foundation wants to inspire families to live life to the fullest.

Works of original art handcrafted by children with disabilities will be the centerpiece of the Gala, many of them featuring the Lollipop Kids Foundation’s guiding principles of “Love, Faith, Hope.” Funds raised from their sale will benefit our therapeutic swim and respite care programs for children with disabilities.

We are pleased to announce that our keynote speaker for the event will be Ms. Wheelchair 2005, Juliette Rizzo of Maryland. Ms. Rizzo has covered and coordinated national news stories as a journalist, carried the Olympic torch, and realized many of her other personal dreams and goals. Juliette empowers Americans with disabilities though her Ms. Wheelchair platform, “Power through Participation: Illuminating Opportunities for People with Disabilities.” She believes that community participation is more than having a physical presence; it is also about finding your identity through your involvement and personal contribution to community life.

http://www.mswheelchairamerica.org/mwa-winners.html#05
http://www.judyhoit.com/pageanthistory/rizzo.htm

At last year’s inaugural Lollipop Kids Foundation Charity Gala, we were proud to host over 150 attendees. This was an incredible turnout – at the time of the event, the Foundation had been in existence for less than a full year!

Raising a child with a disability is overwhelming at every turn. The burden sometimes feels too much to bear. Have you ever asked yourself, “Why?”

Could it be we are asking the wrong question? I believe the Walsman family’s response to the recent passing of their disabled son, Benjamin, illustrates perfectly the correct question we all should be asking.

“What now?”

Daniel and Dionne Walsman (Benjamin’s parents) are planning an event for children with disabilities and their families called “Friends Helping Friends”.

This family, in their personal tragedy, asked the right question. They understand that in the end, asking “Why?” really solves nothing at all. However, “What now?” offers healing and solutions.

Please join the Lollipop Kids Foundation as we support Daniel and Dionne’s inspiring undertaking of their “What now?” Friends Helping Friends will be a day full of fun games, crafts, entertainment, music and much more! All activities will be held indoors.

Friends Helping Friends

Saturday, August 20, 2011
1 -4 pm

7255 Ridge Road
Mount Airy, MD 21771

This event is FREE and for all ages.

RSVP to Daniel Walsman at (301) 385-7336 or

dananddionne@hotmail.com

Looking forward to seeing everyone there!

Join the Lollipop Kids for an evening of Orioles baseball! Tickets are available on a first-come, first-serve basis for children with disabilities and 1 parent/caregiver. This policy will allow more children to attend the game. Any extra tickets will be posted Sept 13 and can be claimed then for extra family members.

We will meet between 6:30pm and 6:45pm at GATE A (at the east side of the Warehouse at the breezeway) for ticket distribution.

A limited number of individual accessible parking spaces are available in lots A & B. Should these spaces be filled, an attendant will direct fans to the nearest open parking or the stadiums designated Drop-Off area.

Be sure to visit the Lollipop Kids’ Cafepress shop to purchase your Lollipop Kids logo t-shirt for the game! Proceeds support our therapeutic swim program!

http://www.cafepress.com/lollipopkidsfoundation

To reserve your tickets, please email info@lollipopkidsfoundation.org
Be sure to indicate if your child needs ADA seating (these seats are limited).

Rockafellas Restaurant is committed to giving back to children with disabilities in our community. They are, once again, hosting a fundraiser on July 26 where 15% of food and drink sales are given back to us! All proceeds support our Therapeutic Swim program.

To continue our swimming program past September 11th, we need your help! Bring your family, friends and co-workers to enjoy good food, drinks and meet some of the kids we support.

For more information, email info@lollipopkidsfoundation.org