Mary Foos

History of Children's Mercy KC:

Children's mercy Kansas City was founded in 1897 by two sisters. A saloonkeeper in the Kansas City Stockyards had heard of the sisters' reputation for helping poor, sick children and he told one of the doctors of a woman he had seen in the streets trying to give away her crippled 5-year-old daughter. The doctors found the girl abandoned, undernourished and poorly clothed. They arranged a bed for her at a small hospital on 15th and Cleveland in downtown Kansas City on June 24, 1897. The doctors established the Free Bed Fund Association and through painstaking care, they restored life to the orphaned child's crippled legs. With surgery and therapy, she walked again.

Today, Children's Mercy includes two hospitals: a state of the art hospital located at 2401 Gillham Rd. in Kansas City, Mo. The hospital is licensed for 314 beds, and has 14 short stay beds. Children's Mercy Hospital Kansas, a 53 bed hospital in suburban Overland Park, Kan. In addition, there are many outpatient clinics and urgent care centers throughout the metropolitan areas and many other communities in Missouri and Kansas.

How to Help:

​1. Bring your donations in to Children's hospital during donation hours (Hours can be found on hospital's website)

2. Mail your items to the hospital (Addresses can also be found on hospital's website)

3. Donate money online (At the hospital's website)

My Story:

My name is Mary Michelle Foos and I am 19 years old. I was born in 1998 with both congestive and cardiac anomalies. By the time I was a year and a half old I had experienced four open heart surgeries, three digestive surgeries, and numerous stays in the children's hospital for congestive heart failure. Although my surgeries were done at a hospital in Florida, I have been visiting Children's Mercy hospital since I was two, and will continue to visit them until I am 22. Children's Mercy is a great hospital, but I also recognize the need for pediatric care and generous donations everywhere.

Having a child in the hospital can be extremely costly. Many people know about medical bills, but don’t think about the other expenses that the family may also have.

I was fortunate enough to stay in a hospital that was close to home, so my family could go back and forth and also care for my older brother while I was staying in the hospital. Not everyone has this opportunity, which can get very costly very fast. Many families have to stay in hotels close to the hospital. Between eating out, hospital bills, hotel costs, and other bills they may have, families might not have much money to buy toys and necessities for their children. That’s where donations become so important!

Why Should We Donate to Children's Hospitals?

• Many families do not know that they are going to have to spend long weeks/months in the hospital, it's usually an urgent matter. They come to the hospitals with usually just a bag or purse.

• Contributions of clothes, toiletries, toys, new books and other items can make a family’s hospital stay just a bit easier, relieving stress and allowing them to focus on what matters most -helping their child heal.

• Most hospitals do not provide children with tons of toys without donations.

• A simple deck of cards, a doll, or a stuffed animal can sometimes put a smile on the face of a child who hasn't smiled in a long time

• It's easy! Most hospitals have flexible donation hours, and a variety of needed items. Also, if you don't have time to go buy items, you can just donate money online which will also make a huge difference.

Items You Can Donate:

• Generic coloring books
• Baby dolls
• Crayons
• Interactive crib toys/musicals
• Markers
• Headphones
• Super hero action figures
• Movies
• Gift cards
• Journals/paper
• Hello Kitty items
• Dinosaurs
• Bubbles
• Craft and bead kits
• Play-Doh
• UNO cards
• Shorts/Shirts
• Underwear
• Baby rattles

[Hospitals do not accept stuffed animals, food, flowers, or used items to prevent infections within the hospitals]