Free Gifts for Pediatric Cancer Patients

In this blog, I’ll talk a little bit about free gifts for pediatric cancer patients and where to find them. I’ll also share a bit of my experience with getting gifts over the years from some great people and organizations who really cared.

Growing up having cancer at ages 6, 9, 11, and 21, receiving gifts of any kind was always pretty cool. Gifts and surprises were always a way to help distract me from chemotherapy, procedures, and all things cancer.

For gifts, I would often get games, action figures, baseball cards, puzzles, and other “old school” toys. In other words, none of the digital stuff you see today. Of course, one Christmas I did get a Nintendo gaming system. That was pretty neat.

And as for my “free gifts,” I always had friends and family members who gave me things to help cheer me up. Their gifts gave me something to look forward to and get me through it all. However, these great people, of course, bought the gifts.

So what about free gifts for pediatric cancer patients?

Free Gifts from Miss Sydney

In my memoir, This is Remission, I talk about Miss Sydney. She was pretty much the sweetest lady ever or one of them (take it easy, mom, you know she was sweet).

At any rate, sometimes dressed a clown, Miss Sydney would push a cart around both the hospital and the chemo clinic at Egleston Children’s Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia.

In her cart, she had loads of little toys and trinkets that she would let the kids have—free gifts for the kids going through cancer treatment or any kid really.

Looking back now, it’s really unbelievable how much love Miss Sydney had for all of us kids going through cancer treatment. I will never forget her. Well, if I did, it would only be because of chemo brain or something.

Free Gifts for Pediatric Cancer Patients: Dreams Come True and My New Toy

Later, when I was maybe ten years old or so, I got my chance with a great organization called Dreams Come True.

I can remember getting one of their forms at the chemo clinic to request a gift. I was so excited and couldn’t wait to get home and fill out the form with my parents and request some “thing” that I would get for “free.”

Check out the form below. “Haro,” that was the cool bike back then.

Originally, I wanted a four-wheeler. But I think, in the end, we all agreed that it might be a little dangerous for two crazy stuntmen like my brother and me to have a four-wheeler. Heck, we were little terrors on our bikes and skateboards. I still have scars on my chin, arms, and knees from those things.

Oh, and the go-kart—man, we made that thing go through ponds, off curbs, into walls, off of ramps, and one time down a “small” cliff of sorts.

So, what did we do about my gift request to Dreams Come True? Well, since I loved bikes, too. I put in for a new bike. Then I waited. That was the hardest part as Tom Petty sings (bad joke).

I mean, for a kid, a month or two can seem like a decade. However, in reality, the wait wasn’t that long.

One day, we got the call about the bike that I wanted. I was so excited I couldn’t sit still—and so we didn’t.

We made plans for that very weekend to drive to Mike’s Bikes in Columbus, Georgia. It was there that I picked up my bright green “Laser” BMX bike.

When I saw my bike, I couldn’t believe it. It was undoubtedly one of the best gifts I ever received as a kid with cancer. Well, I did get that skateboard from my dad that one time. It was a Lance Mountain. It was just cool.

Bamba Box: Free Gift Boxes for Pediatric Cancer Patients

I launched my site, Bamba Box, at the end of December 2019.

Bamba was my grandmother, who, along with my grandfather, brought me a care package after many of my surgeries, procedures, and chemo treatments in the 80s. Today, I call that care package the Bamba Box—a gift box for pediatric cancer patients, kids in the hospital, or any kid who needs a little cheering up.

The Bamba Box gift box was my ultimate gift as a kid. Mainly because I never knew what would be inside. It was always a mystery as to what I would get, and that was the fun part.

However, there was one thing that I always received with just about every Bamba Box. It was a favorite toy of mine. The simple toy parachute man. The one that you could throw up in the air and watch it float to the ground.

So, every Bamba Box that is shipped today includes a parachute man. And, if I sign the parachute itself, then the child who received that box wins a free virtual concert where I’ll perform my song, “Where Hope Lives.” It’s a song that was originally written and recorded for the American Cancer Society Hope Lodge.

The Bamba Box gift box comes with a personalized letter from me, a link to a password-protected “member’s area,” and about 10-plus mystery toys.

Are Bamba Boxes Free for Pediatric Cancer Patients?

Okay, about the free part. Here’s how Bamba Box currently works.

Ordering Bamba Boxes for Kids

Ordering options on Bamba Box allows buyers to purchase for kids ages 4 to 5, 6 to 8, 9 to 12, and now for teens. After the order is placed, we ship it to any kid, anywhere in the United States. It doesn’t matter where it’s being shipped, to a hospital, a house, an apartment—we get it there!

Gifting Bamba Boxes to Kids

Another ordering option is through our “Gift a Box” program. This option is great for anyone looking to support a child in need but does not personally know of a child.

In this case, when you gift a box through Bamba Box, we package that Bamba Box and deliver it to one of the organizations we serve on your behalf. Currently, we deliver to several Ronald McDonald Houses^TM, Wolfson Children’s Hospital, and Foster Closet in Jacksonville, Florida.

Also, when a child opens a Bamba Box “gifted” gift boxes for kids, there is a certificate right on top of all of the toys with the name of the person who gifted the box.

Free Bamba Box Gift Boxes for Pediatric Cancer Patients

Generally speaking, the Bamba Boxes sell for $27.99. However, for certain kids and families, I do send them out for free.

It’s simple. I want to make kids going through hard times happy. And I know that going through cancer and other health issues can be extremely expensive and just yuck.

So, how about this, like and follow me on Instagram, send me a note by going here, let me know your situation, and I’ll see what I can do. Currently, we have a specified number of boxes that we can send at no charge every month.