The Starlight Children’s Foundation has been using Art with Heart books for over 5 years, recently ordering nearly 2,000 Chill & Spill journals to send to teenagers throughout Canada. Though it is a challenge for the foundation to find individual donors to subsidize the books, feedback is so positive that they supply their network of over 100 hospitals by purchasing the books with money from the foundation’s budget.

I spoke to Cathy Diamond, Hospital Program Manager, about how Art with Heart books and programs have helped the Starlight Children’s Foundation work towards its mission. She told me a story about a cancer clinic in Ottawa that came to her looking for a distractive tool for the children receiving ongoing treatment. The Starlight Children’s Foundation provided 100 kits filled with Oodles of Doodles and various art supplies. The children loved having something that belonged to them and could be picked up and worked on during their visits to the clinic.

“There is such a positive benefit for the kids who use the books,” says Cathy. “A strong part of our mandate is to provide distractive entertainment and distractive therapy. The books provide a great icebreaker for Child Life Specialists to start a conversation with a child who is shy or frightened.”

For more than 25 years, Starlight Children’s Foundation has been dedicated to improving the quality of life for children with chronic and life-threatening illnesses and life-altering injuries by providing entertainment, education and family activities that help them cope with the pain, fear and isolation of prolonged illness. To learn more about the foundation, visit them online here.