SendAFriend, an ecommerce company with a heartwarming mission, delivered a truckload of joy to children today at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. Each of the 800 stuffed animal care packages were donated by SendAFriend customers who chose to sponsor a care package for a child they have never met.

SendAFriend is an ecommerce company that helps customers send personalized stuffed animal care packages to their loved ones. SendAFriend offers a care package sponsorship program, known as GiveAFriend, for customers to send a gift to a child in a hospital with the note "Someone Loves You." To date, the GiveAFriend initiative has delivered over 3,000 care packages to children in hospitals across the Midwest.

In addition to the GiveAFriend initiative, SendAFriend donates 10% of all revenue to children's hospitals each month - so far, over $570,000 has been donated by the company. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt received the June 2020 SendAFriend donation totaling $30,419.22.

"Proud doesn't come close to describing the emotion I have when we pull up to a children's hospital with our bright blue SendAFriend truck packed with hundreds of care packages for sick children," explains Tyler Macke, the 21-year old founder and CEO of SendAFriend. "Every time we do these deliveries, I am humbled and honored to be able to serve in some way."

Recipients of previous GiveAFriend packages include the young patients of St. Louis Children's Hospital, Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital, SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital, Norton Children's Hospital, and Children's Mercy Kansas City.

Recipients of previous SendAFriend revenue donations include St. Louis Children's Hospital, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, St. Louis Shriners Hospitals for Children, Ranken Jordan Pediatric Bridge Hospital, Children's Mercy Kansas City, Norton Children's Hospital, etc.

"We know that a hospitalization can be stressful for a child, and we take a team approach to create a friendly and comfortable medical environment through play and education," said Janet Cross, MEd, administrative director of Patient- and Family-Centered Care at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. "These thoughtful care packages from SendAFriend will spread joy to our patients in the hospital, and their generous donation will help us care for even more children and families in their time of greatest need."