May, 2017

So grateful again for Nashville Preds Foundation's generosity in helping us reach out to courageous kids with hope and encouragement.  They gave out over 500K this year to foundations that are positively affecting their communities.  

PROJECT 22O is an aggressive multi-year project to provide a copy of Pass Love Along for every child courageously battling life-threatening medical challenges that is admitted to the 220 Children's Hospitals across the USA. You can help us share HOPE and ENCOURAGEMENT to kids and their families as their "journeys2healing" sometimes include days of discouragement, loneliness, questions and fear. You can donate any amount of your choosing or join our Book of the Month club.  Click here for info on how to DONATE.

Kendra Ferguson is our very first recepient of a Sunshine Basket back in 2013.  Ronda was presenting an author visit at her school - Grassy Lake Elementary in Minneola, FL., north of Orlando in Lake County.  Kendra's mom is a teacher there.  We heard about Kendra's story and caught up with her the day before her first chemo treatment at the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando.  We are happy to report that Kendra is now in remission and as you can see is adorable and loving her hair! You can read more about Kendra by going to the Hero Kids link.

Grateful to host and co-anchor Leanne Taylor and Tulsa CBS affiliate NewsOn6 for having Ronda, Caroline and her mom Megan on their  "Six in the Morning" program to showcase Ronda's new book (Pass Love Along) and little Caroline's journey. The book was commissioned by the Children's Hospital at Saint Francis foundation. Caroline and her mom shared a little bit about their journey that began in the summer of 2015. Caroline is the little girl pictured on the front of the book which features the Children's Hospital mascot - the Panda and a bunch of other animals all starting with the letter "P."  Recently we found out that Caroline is the St.Jude's Children Research Hospital - Oklahoma spotlight patient with Saint Francis being an affiliate clinic.

Take a moment to write a note or make a call to say thank you some very special people #Heroes4Healing who through their compassion and expertise create healing environments for some of our littlest warriors.

April, 2016.  Children's author Ronda Friend and co-founder of F2F Book Project is excited for the release of her Eighth book called "Pass Love Along." The foundation at The Children's Hospital at Saint Francis, Tulsa commissioned Ronda to write a book featuring one of their patients - a five year old girl named Caroline who was diagnosed a year ago with Leukemia.  You can click on the book cover to read more about the storyline of the book.  Pass Love Along will become the centerpiece of our Sunshine Baskets.  The book not only gives hope and encouragement to our littlest warriors battling tough medical challenges but it also is a great book for kids who have friends battling life threatening medical challenges.  

The book also gives a grateful tribute to the #Heroes4Healing a.k.a. the medical teams and hospital staffs in countless Children's Hospitals  that combine their expertise, experience and compassion to provide the very best healing enviroments for every llittle warrior and their families.

Caroline, a brave little warrior battling Leukemia receives the first copy of Pass Love Along. Caroline, of course, is featured in the book along with her family, a lot of animals (representing the hospital staff) whose names start with the letter "P." Isn't she adorable and as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside!!!

So grateful again to be on the receiving end of the Nashville Predators foundation and their generosity. Ronda and Stephanie Todd are pictured with Gnash, Kristen Laviolette, Board member and wife of Coach Laviolette, and Sean Henry, Pres. of Preds Foundation. 

Big shout out to ORU students who took time out of their busy final exams week to share some hope and encouragement to some well deserving kids with over 100 Sunshine Baskets.  Kudos to the Tulsa CBS NewsOn6 morning co-hosts Leanne Taylor and Rich Lenz for coming out to serve as well. The Oral Roberts University Chapel Missions project chose Friend2Friend Book Project as one of several charitable outreaches and the offering fully funded the distribution of all 100 Sunshine Baskets.  Thank you to students: Bre Campbell, Kaily Cox, Haydon Ness, Crystal Nizza, Trevor Torgeson, and Hanah Turnbow.   

A big thank you to the newest member of our "100 Friends of Hope," a group of small business owners helping to share hope and encouragement to some very courageous kids facing tough medical challengers.  

January 1, 2015. . .The "Dollar Hope Club" launches to bring hope and compassion to 600 elementary school children fighting life threatening health challenges in 2015.  Our 2015 goal is to have 500 people donate $5 a month.  See our DOLLAR HOPE CLUB page on this website.

We just finished dropping off our first installment of 130 Sunshine Baskets to Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt University.  Preds players Mike Fisher (#12), Filip Forsberg (#9) and Callie Jarnkrok (#19) blessed over 100 kids facing tough medical battles.

We still will make Sunshine Baskets available to Erlanger in Chattanooga; Childrens Hosp. @ Univ. of Oklahoma; and The Children's Hospital at St. Francis, Tulsa.  In addition any children from our network of 1000 elementary schools will be receiving baskets as well.  We are grateful for all that have given and always want to say YES to the hospitals' request because they represent real kids and families.  Remember, Jostens and Sunflower Seeds Press book publishers are our matching partners making a little go a long way!

(December 4, 2014) F2F would like to give a shout out to Jostens for their generosity in donating books to make our annual Christmas Sunshine Basket program sweeter than ever.  Due to their generosity we will be able (along with Sunflower Seeds Press publishing company) to have a matching donations program for each Sunshine Basket donated online.  Every basket donated will mean three baskets shared with some very courageous warriors battling life-threatening illnesses and traumatic injury recovery.  The parent company which birthed Friend2Friend Book Project is Sunflower Seeds Press.  Seperate from Friend2Friend Book Project they contract with Jostens to have all their book titles printed for distribution and sale within the elementary schools during author Ronda Friend's author visit program that has now exceeded 1,000 schools all over the country.  Jostens does an awesome job with integrity and a culture of excellence that leads the industry.  We thank them for helping us help kids!

Beginning June 9, 2014 Friend2Friend Book Project will begin putting together a team of 100 Nashville area small businesses with a proven track record of commitment to their community and a heart to share hope with children battling tough medical challenges.  With our partnership with Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vandy and Erlanger Children's Hospital in Chattanooga we have a wonderful opportunity to touch the lives of approximately 1,500 children facing long term medical treatments with hope, encouragement and yes...even a little hilarity!  Also, with our outreach to additional courageous kids through our partnerships with elementary schools we have the privilege of touching the lives of untold families. 

One of the ideas behind "100 Friends of Hope" is to assemble a team of 100 businesses with each business doing a little each instead of a few businesses having to do it all.  We are well aware (just from being a part of the Nashville Predators grant ceremony as a recepient) that there are hundreds of charitable organizations in Nashville doing great work.  We just want to touch the lives of kids and their families who, because of the long term nature of their medical fight, often drop off of the radar and can feel forgotten and without hope.  We figured if we could get a lot of small businesses, who already have a heart for kids, doing a little bit each - we could reach our goal.  

If you are a small business owner and would like to get together in a totally relaxed setting, just to find out more info, please call me at 615-969-2740 and it would be a privilege to meet you and answer your questions. 

A big shout out to the Nashville Predators for once again being gracious and generous in giving us another grant for the 2014-2015 outreach program. During a recent ceremony on May 7 we along with 117 other charitable organizations received a total of $410,652. This is our second year in a row to be a grateful recepient and to continue our partnership with the Predators. THANK YOU NASHVILLE PREDATORS!  Thanks also to Rebecca King and Kristen Finch who are the most enthusiastic professionals to work with at the Preds Community Relations! Pictured with me are Preds #16 Richard Clune and #27 Patrick Hornqvist and F2F Board member Maria Lee...and of course - GNASH!  

(Monday, December 16, 2013)  

Friend2Friend Book Project was privileged to partner with the Nashville Predators (our first grant donor) to provide 25 "Sunshine Baskets" to some very courageous Kids at the Monroe Carell Jr. Childrens Hospital at Vanderbilt, Nashville, TN.  Thanks to Rebecca King, Director of Community Relations with the Predators and the Child Life Dept. at Monroe Carell Jr. for making this possible.  Five Predators players including Gnash visited the kids.  The players were Pekka Rinne, Nick Spaling, Kevin Klein, Mattias Ekholm and Marek Mazanec.

Big shout out to NTS ProMedia, Nashville, for their support in providing Sunshine Baskets for our outreach to some courageous Kids at Monroe Carell, Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt on Monday, December 16.  Their support especially made all the audiobooks within the 25 baskets possible.  Thanks to Bobby, Adam and Amy!  Besides their support, they are great people to work with.  Check them out on http://www.ntspromedia.com/.

Friend2Friend director Bill Todd had the awesome experience of going to Oklahoma with approximately 110 volunteers from his home church - Cross Point Nashville - to serve the victims of the tornadoes.  It's tough to put into words the absolute destruction we saw in Moore, especially in the neighborhoods surrounding the two elementary schools.  It's not hard to put into words the spirit of the Oklahoma people - courageous and grateful.  Just like the folks in Joplin - there is a no quit attitude that was so appreciative of folks that came from all over the country to help.

While serving tornado victims, Friend2Friend Book Project had the privilege of delivering Sunshine Baskets to the Children's Hospital at the Univ. of OK Medical Center which received the majority of children affected by the recent tornadoes in Oklahoma that especially affected El Reno, Moore, and Shawnee, OK.  F2F already had established a partnership with Children's Hospital back in November, 2012.  Sara Jacobson, the Child Life Director at Children's Hospital is wonderful to work with and it's a privilege to be able to serve her and the children under her care!

Keep on keeping the wonderful people of Oklahoma in your thoughts and prayers - especially the families of the children who died at the Plaza Towers Elementary school in Moore, OK.  

Friend2Friend Book Project received it's first grant of it's young existence from it's hometown NHL Hockey team - the Nashville Predators. During a recent ceremony on May 20, the Predators awarded the largest one time Foundation grant allocation in team history in the amount of $400,000 to approximately 120 nonprofit organizations.  The Community Outreach team is wonderful and we offer a huge thank you to Rebecca King, Director, Community Relations and Kristen Finch, Community Relations Coordinator who are delightful and fun to work with! Ronda and I had the privilege of this photo op with Gnash, the Predators mascot, and goaltender, Pekka Rinne. This generous grant from the Predators will primarily help in distributing Sunshine Baskets to courageous kids at the Monroe Carell Jr. Childrens Hospital at Vandy and the Childrens Hospital at Erlanger in Chattanooga. We are looking forward to the upcoming Hockey season when we can put Sunshine Baskets into the hands of the Predators players as they visit the children.

Recently the Predators also helped us deliver Sunshine Baskets to the affected children of the Oklahoma tornadoes at the Childrens Hospital at the Univ. of OK Medical Center in Oklahoma City.  In addition to their grant money they contributed cute little Nashville Predators Mr. Potato Heads to include in the Sunshine Baskets and they were a big hit!

One of the great benefits of being Director of Friend2Friend Book Project is meeting professionals who love kids and who work in awesome medical facilities where kids and families are cared for at the highest level.  The Children's Hospital at St. Francis is such a place and the Child Life Specialists I have the joy of partnering with are Miranda Ruland and Sarah Sands.  We delivered our first baskets to St. Francis in February of this year.