2019 UNBirthday Party

On Monday, May 13th, we hosted our 3rd Annual UNBirthday Party. We changed things up a little this year to make this event bigger and better. We partnered with the City of Round Rock Parks and Recreations’ Adaptive and Includive Recreation (AIR). We LOVE partnering with this amazing group of people! We moved the event to the Play for All accessible park in Round Rock. This park was always a special place for us to go with Casey. It’s fully accessible and so colorful and fun for kids of all abilities and all ages.

HMH Publishing sent Curious George and the Man in the Yellow Hat to greet the kids. They also donated beautiful coloring books (wrapped) for the kids to have as a special UNBirthday gift. Build-A-Bear donated a bunch of teddy bears for the kids to have as gifts as well.

When we started to look into changing things up this year we sent a survey to some of the families that have attended previous years. Many of them commented on how much they love the unbirthday cake. Amy’s Ice Cream blows us away every year by making and donating gorgeous and delicious cakes. Every bite of the cake was eaten.

We were able to get Panda Express to donate a bunch of dinner boxes for families this year. It was really nice to have a dinner option so families did not have to leave early or come late to get everyone fed.

Round Rock fire and police were on site for the kids to explore the vehicles and talk with first responders. Kids LOVE seeing these cars/trucks up close. It was so nice that they came by to offer a little extra fun for the kids.

We (Casey’s Circle and Round Rock) brought in Tiny Tails and face painters to round out the party entertainment.

The SUPER talented Natalie from Natalie Ebaugh Photography volunteered her time to come and capture lots of great pics of everyone enjoying the park. We saw a lot of familiar faces, but met a lot of new families as well. We are already planning and looking forward to next year’s UNBirthday Party!

Thank you to everyone that joined us and to all of those mentioned above that helped to make this event extra fun for the amazing families we support.

Check out photos here – Continue to Album

Special Thanks to Our Sponsors:

UNBirthday Party – 2019

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Holiday Party 2018

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2018 Holiday Party

On Saturday, December 8th, we hosted our Annual Special Needs Holiday Party. Along with the Palliative Care Team of Dell Children’s Medical Center we gathered families together to celebrate the holiday. We hosted 2 parties again this year. We had one that was invite only that we kept small for our more complex families, then we had a larger party for all special needs. Both parties were a ton of fun!

Santa had books for all of the kids, and we had gift baskets donated by local organizations as well as some donated by individuals that we were able to hand out to families as door prizes.

This party continues to grow each year, and we want to say a very special thank you to all of the amazing companies and individuals that help us to make this party such a success…

Our gift basket donors:
Neotech Home Health
Abilitees Adaptive Wear
Star of Texas Keepsake Collectors
Gigi V

HEB provided all of the food and drinks, as well as the cups, plates, etc and they delivered it all. This year HEB sent Buddy along to hand out treats and welcome all of the party guest. HEB supports a lot of local charities and we are so grateful for all that they do for us and other organizations like ours.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt sent Curious George and the Man in Yellow Hat to read the kids some stories. HMH also provided new books, all wrapped, for Santa to hand out to all of the kids that attend the party.

Aveanna Healthcare provided all of the crafts for the kids to do, as well as many volunteers to help with the event.

Nic volunteered his time to do photos from the first party and Sheridan volunteered her time to take photos during the second party. We are so thankful to have such talented and generous volunteers!

We are looking forward to seeing everyone again soon!

Fox 7 Austin and KVUE both came out and covered the earlier party. You can see those stories here:

Fox 7 Austin
KVUE

Check out photos from this year’s parties – Continue to Album

Angel Ornament Dinner – 2018

On Wednesday, December 5th, we teamed up with sMiles 4 Sammy and the Palliative Care Team at Dell Children’s for our 5th annual angel dinner.

We had a wonderful time sharing memories of the children that have passed with the sweet families that joined us. Chuy’s in Cedar Park works closely with sMiles 4 Sammy and donated dinner to them for everyone. This has become one of our favorite annual events. We love to spend time with these families and bring them together to support one another. We are looking forward to seeing them all again soon.

Here are some photos from the dinner – Continue to Album

Angel Ornament Dinner – 2018

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Casey’s Circle BINGO Fundraiser – 2018

On Tuesday, November 6th, we hosted our first ever fundraiser. We invited everyone to join us at the beautiful Lone Oak Barn for a fun night of Bingo, BBQ, and Open Bar. We raised a lot of money to help fund our services for 2019. The entire evening was planned down to the last detail by Hennithing is Possible Weddings. If you need an event planner be sure to call to Henni- she is FANTASTIC!

In addition to the wonderful people that joined us at the event, we had amazing support from the community. Thank you so much to all that helped us to make this event a success!

Event Sponsors:

Rising Starz Entertainment

Silent Auction/Event Donations:

Check out photos from the event – Continue to Album

Casey’s Circle BINGO Fundraiser – 2018

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Show Me the Money

There is one question I get asked a LOT- what are some programs out there to help cover the cost of the items my kids needs? If that many people are asking, I figure this is something worth sharing with all of you as well.

Surprisingly, there are actually a good number of organizations that can help with financial needs for families in the Austin area. Some are local, some are statewide, and some are across the country. Hopefully these may be able to help you.

First up let’s talk about a grant program available to families across the US. United Healthcare Grants will give up to $5000 for some cases. There is a lot of paperwork, and it is income based. However, that does not mean you have to be on SSI to apply. You can find more details, and apply here:
https://www.uhccf.org/apply-for-a-grant/

There are 3 organizations that focus on Texas families. Variety offers grants up to $5000. They have different categories that they support. You can find more details on qualifications and how to apply here:
https://www.varietytexas.org/apply/

CPATH grants up to $500 for equipment. Depending on the specific item you need $500 may be great, but it may not be enough. The good thing about this one is that it is NOT income based. Here is the link to apply:
https://cpathtexas.org/grants/

Be An Angel offers grants to help pay for respite, camp as well as some equipment needs. To apply:
https://beanangel.org/

Another grant program available is specific to the 4 points area. If you live in this area, Hill Country Special Needs Alliance may be able to help with a handful of different needs. They have been known to cover nonstandard therapy, camp, equipment, and many other medically necessary items that insurance does not cover. You can find out more about the area they cover and apply here:
http://www.hcsna.com/contact-2/

If the grant programs don’t work out, maybe you would consider used equipment. Many organizations find items that have been outgrown, no longer needed, etc and match it up to families like your own that need them and are having a hard time getting them covered:

Parker Lee Project
http://www.theparkerleeproject.org/requestform.html

Project Mend
https://www.projectmend.org/medical-equipment-reuse/

One last suggestion is to look on Facebook. There are groups where people will post ISO (in search of) and list items they need. Or FFS (Free For Shipping) and list items they don’t need and will send you if you can cover shipping. There are LOTS of these groups. The best way to find them is to search for “medical supply exchange” and you can then request to join any that come back in your search. Some are local, some are US, some are worldwide, some are specific to a diagnosis or type of equipment too.