For Cindy Kolarik, joy means that “every day I get to see the kindness of people trying to do the right thing.”
Kolarik is director of the Jared Box Project, which started in State College in 2001 as a “one time thing” to deliver small gift boxes of toys and other fun items to children at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville.
Fifteen years later the project is in all 50 states, and more than 250,000 Jared Boxes — likely far more — have been delivered to children at hospitals across the nation.
“It’s just incredible how far and wide it is,” Kolarik said.
All that thanks to the inspiration provided by a young Our Lady of Victory School pupil, the dedication of volunteers and the power of a web site and social media.
Jared McMullen, a boy with an “outgoing, fun-loving personality,” was diagnosed with an incurable brainstem tumor at age 5 in 1999. Jared brought backpacks of toys and games to his appointments at Geisinger, shared them with other children and invited them to play games. Jared died in November 2000, but not before inspiring those who knew him.
“He loved to play Old Maid and Uno and he had a contagious laugh,” Kolarik said. “What always impressed me — he was looking for other kids who looked sad” to try to lift their spirits.
“When he passed away there was a sense that we needed to do something to honor him and to help the kids (at Our Lady of Victory) experiencing the loss of a friend,” she said.
“We should try to do what he tried to do — lift other kids’ spirits in the hospital.”
GOING NATIONAL
When the first Jared Boxes were delivered to Geisinger, Kolarik said she was “shocked” by the strong response. “It seemed like a simple idea but no one was really doing it.”
A newspaper article about the effort prompted calls from other groups such as Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts that wanted to get involved.
Volunteers developed brochures and labels for the boxes, and the project continued to grow largely via word of mouth and additional news coverage.
But the development of a website, www.thejaredbox.com, a few years later took the project nationwide.
The website, Kolarik said, is essentially a “one stop shop” where people can learn about the project, print labels, get lists of recommended toys and find a directory of hospitals in all states.
Facebook (The Jared Box Project) is also a key outreach tool, she said. “I’m on there every day.”
Volunteers have reported delivering more than 250,000 Jared Boxes, but Kolarik said it’s likely “so much more than that” because people can go to the website and may never contact the organization.
The effort received a boost recently when the national service organization Alpha Phi Omega and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars both chose it as a service project.
Kolarik said she has also been working to link the Cleveland Clinic with service groups interested in delivering Jared Boxes. “They had gotten some in the past and wanted to know how to get more,” she said.
LOCAL IMPACT
Locally, Kolarik said she works with groups to keep Mount Nittany Medical Center supplied with Jared Boxes all year.
And students at Our Lady of Victory School, who started it all 15 years ago, still make about 200 Jared Boxes a year for Geisinger. Representatives from the Janet Weis Children’s Hospital (Geisinger) in Danville come to the school and pick up the boxes, Kolarik said.
Now the religious education program of the church is involved as well, recently making 108 Jared Boxes filled with games, toys and activities given to Mount Nittany Medical Center. They were to be delivered to children in the emergency room, cancer care center, patient rooms the outpatient surgical center and to Centre Volunteers in Medicine, Kolarik said.
Meredith Thompson, director of volunteer resources, Mount Nittany Health, said that Mount Nittany Medical Center annually receives 400 to 500 Jared Boxes.
‘Our young patients find these boxes to be a wonderful and fun distraction during a hospital visit,” Thompson said. “We also use these boxes for any children that may be here waiting during a loved one’s surgery or hospital stay.’
She added, ‘Often a child will receive a Jared Box during a visit to the medical center and will, in turn, pay it forward by making boxes of their own. It’s their special way to keep spreading the goodness that comes from such a kind gesture.’
Recently, Jennifer Chapman, the mother of a Jared Box recipient at Mount Nittany, shared her appreciation on Facebook:
‘A special thank you to the Jared Box Project! My daughter had tubes put in both ears this morning. She was scared and was starting to get upset as we undressed her and put on her special panda ‘dress,’ but she calmed down right away as she played with all the toys that were inside her Jared Box. I have followed your Facebook page for awhile as my nieces have received boxes before, but also because my Alma mater is Our Lady of Victory School and my daughter and I attend OLV church weekly. Thank you again for all the volunteers and their generosity!”
The Penn State Lady Lions basketball team joins the effort Saturday, Feb. 11, as fans are encouraged to bring a toy to the home game against Purdue. Tickets can be purchased at a discount by visiting www.gopsusports.com/jaredbox and using the promo code JAREDBOX.
