On January 3, 2012, Governor Pat Quinn signed a proclamation stating that the week of February 7-14 is Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week in Illinois.

One in every 100 babies born in the United States each year will be born with an undetected, life-threatening congenital heart defect (CHD). CHD is the most common birth defect in the United States.  Many of these children are diagnosed just in time for their lives to be saved, but sadly many die as result.

Families who have children with CHDs are thrust into a world of medical terminology, invasive surgery and days in a hospital where they do not know what to expect next.   In conjunction with CHD Week, Mended Little Hearts of Chicago is coordinating a Care Bag Drive for the month of February to primarily benefit the families at Children’s Memorial Hospital, Chicago. 

Children’s Memorial Hospital sees approximately 300 cardiac surgery patients a year. Mended Little Hearts provides care bags to let families know that someone cares and that they are not alone. Many children with CHD are sent to Children’s Memorial Hospital of Chicago from suburban hospitals or even from another state (sometimes by ambulance or helicopter with only a moments notice) to have surgery.

Their parents may have nothing more than the clothes they are wearing and the contents of their wallet or purse with them as they sit by a hospital bedside hoping that their child survives. Mended Little Hearts provides care bags containing toiletries and comfort items to families with children in the hospital to help make the experience a little more tolerable.  

The items provided to the families include travel size toiletries, non-perishable single serving snacks, playing cards, crossword puzzle books, coloring books and crayons, stuffed animals and baby blankets to name a few.

For a full list of items Mended Little Hearts is collecting please visit their website at http://www.mlhchicago.org/CareBag_Program.html. All items must be new for the health and safety of the children and their families and can be dropped off at New Lenox Library at 120 Veterans Parkway in New Lenox.  

Monetary donations and corporate sponsorships are also gladly accepted through their secured site, www.mlhchicago.org, to help offset the expenses of the bags as each costs approximately $35 to assemble.  Given that Children’s Memorial Hospital sees approximately 300 cardiac surgery patients a year, MLH of Chicago is seeking donations of any kind.  

Mended Little Hearts, started in 2004, is a national support program for parents and caregivers of children with heart defects and heart disease, and is dedicated to inspiring hope in those who care for the littlest heart patients of all. Mended Little Hearts offers resources and a caring support network as families find answers and move forward to find healing and hope.   Partnering with hospitals in the Chicagoland area, specifically Children’s Memorial Hospital, Central DuPage Hospital and Northwest Community Hospital, Mended Little Hearts of Chicago connects families in crisis with other parents who have survived the shock of learning a child has a heart problem. Mended Little Hearts helps others through peer‐to‐peer support meetings, educational programs, accredited hospital visiting programs, the creation of awareness about congenital heart defects and advocacy on issues that impact the lives of those with heart defects.

Mended Little Hearts of Chicago is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.  Receipts will be provided for tax purposes.