What’s the story: Happy Hope Bags – and a team of UPSers – bring joy to nearly 100,000 hospitalized children a year.
How it started: As a child, Message of Hope’s founder Emi Burke saw how illnesses were affecting kids while making hospital rounds with her pediatrician father.
- More than 26 years later, she decided to start the foundation in the basement of her Massachusetts home, prompted by her son and the desire to provide sick kids with a much-needed lift.
- “Finding out our youngest son was profoundly disabled, visually impaired and unable to speak, led me back to my purpose,” Emi said.
- She developed Happy Hope Bags, which contain items such as crayons, coloring books and stuffed animals.
How UPS is involved: The customer uses UPS to ship the final product from the Message of Hope facility to hospitals. In addition, Ian Dalpe, UPS area sales manager, noticed the organization needed extra help to fulfill its mission, and is part of a team of UPSers who volunteer to pack the bags.
In his words: “There’s a group of us who get together and do this relatively small thing that makes such a big difference for these kids,” Ian said. “I’m really proud to be a part of it and urge others to consider getting involved, too.”
How you can help right now: Learn more about the Message of Hope Foundation and how you can support with your time or money.