The Leaves are Turning Into the Future

It has been entirely too crazy of a year for our family, hopefully your year has been going as best as it possibly can. The last few weeks and the upcoming few weeks will be very hard for us, please keep us in your prayers, in addition to all of our families as we continue to figure out what is growing on my son's rib. We have an upcoming biopsy scheduled, so prayerfully that will give us all the answers we're looking for and require minimal treatment afterwards.

Below I've included some of our upcoming projects and I hope you are inspired to help with either of them. In November, we will be in New York City and I cannot wait to give all the details about this trip, but in the mean time keep in the back of your mind that we'll need your help via social media and the internet in order to make this trip even more awesome that it already is.

As always, please don't hesitate to ask any questions, send us a message, or just stop by our website/Facebook page to see what's happening. Facebook tends to be the place I can post the most frequently with updates and fun stuff, so if you aren't following us already on it, you might want to consider it.

Our annual fall raffle is coming up, but we're still in need of prizes before we can sell tickets! If you own a business, are a consultant for a direct sales company, or just want to donate a neat item or gift card - let us know! We have ten more days to fill before tickets can go on sale.

Band-aids, Books, Mobiles, and Socks Drive!

In honor of Heart Warrior Isa and Oliver the Great two local CHD Warriors to Gracie's Gowns.

Items will be equally divided and in turn donated to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and INOVA Children's Hospital (INOVA Fairfax), who have performed the surgical interventions necessary for their congenital heart defects. Isa is currently still inpatient after open heart surgery at INOVA Children's Hospital and Oli will be seen in Philadelphia for a heart cath sometime in November of this year.

Our Amazon.com wishlist link is below and includes various children's band-aids, crib soothers and mobiles, books related to a variety of diagnoses with the point of view of either the child affected or their siblings, and socks with grips for both children and adults!

Please feel free to purchase the items/brands you'd prefer even if they are not on our list! We've also added some craft items and other beneficial items for our families served at both hospitals.

https://smile.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/1L81BTVHU5HCG

All items can be shipped to:
Gracie's Gowns/Jessica Kidd
20 Lake Caroline Drive
Ruther Glen, VA 22546

In November 2016, Gracie's Gowns will be traveling to New York City, NY where Jessica will have a chance to share not only the story of Gracie's Gowns with many influential people, but more importantly the stories of your children and how their journeys impact and inspire the mission of the organization to continue in bigger and new ways.
We share this information vaguely with you now, but stay tuned because in less than two weeks, we're going to need your help in making this opportunity even more beneficial. I promise, you will not want to miss out on being a part of history in the making for Gracie's Gowns and each of the families we serve.

Sponsor a gown to Ovi & Violet International in Kenya and the funds will also sponsor a gown to a child on the wait list for Gracie's Gowns.
We have a home for the remaining older style gowns, and a few extras in smaller sizes with the hope of being able to donate at least 50 gowns to this wonderful care facility opening in 2017.
They will be providing post-surgical and supportive care to 40 orphaned children at a time in Migori, Kenya that have HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other chronic illnesses. In addition they will be funding all surgical/invasive/necessary treatments and procedures to these children at two hospitals for the children living in the care facility.
Think of it like a super awesome home for children with complex needs, where they can still receive 24/7 medical care without having to be in the hospital itself because they do not have a parent to take care of them at home.
You can sponsor a gown for $25.00 by using the PayPal button on our website.