Bags of Fun Omaha delivers back packs filled with materials for rehabilitative play to children in local hospitals fighting a life-threatening or critical illness. We receive referrals from the child life specialists and the social workers at the various local hospitals and then we put together a custom backpack for each child taking into consideration their cognitive ability, developmental goals, rehabilitative goals and educational needs. We include items to be used for interaction, education, social engagement, manipulative therapy, distraction, comfort and some just plain silly items allowing them to just "be a kid", which is their primary job.  Each medical Bag of Fun costs us $425 to fill.

We also deliver Mental Health bags valued at $250. These bags are delivered to children upon discharge from behavioral health clinics. Mental Health can be life-threatening and we want to support these children. We have been informed that funding for mental health typically goes to the programs and infrastructure. It is difficult to get funding that goes directly to the patient. By providing Mental Health bags we are giving critical resources to these children that align with their safety protocol and provides them the resources to continue therapy after discharge, utilizing the techniques they learned for self-calming, self-soothing, behavior modification and redirection.  

With your support, we can be sure that all of these children have the support they need during their health crisis.