Ever wonder where the crayons donated to The Crayon Initiative actually go? Here's a look at some of the hospitals we donate to and facts you might not know about them.
CHA, or the Children's Hospital Associate, is a trusted organization that oversees the work of countless children's hospitals. We require hospitals to be a part of the CHA network in order to receive crayon donations from us.
Currently, we're only working with hospitals in the United States who are part of the CHA. However, we hope to one day expand our reach to all of North America and beyond.
Our program has certainly spread to the East Coast more quickly, but we have participants stretching from East to West — and even as far West as Hawaii.
The northernmost hospital in our network at this time is The Children's Hospital at Providence in Alaska. With a NICU, PICU, and Maternity care ward, it's one of the most well-equipped children's hospitals in the state.
Our network consists of hospitals across the nation, with hospitals in almost every state. Some of the rare exceptions include Wyoming, although all of its border states have multiple hospitals participating in the program.
Shriners is likely a name you recognize, and its Honolulu location is just one of the locations that we support. However, smaller hospitals are also in our network and in fact, make up the majority of our donations.
Texas Children's Hospital, which has over 465 beds in use, is one of the largest in the nation, and we're proud to support them with crayon donations.
A hospital's size isn't the only thing that determines how many crayons we send. We also factor in their financial need and ability to acquire supplies by other means, helping us provide the most even, fairest distribution possible.
All hospitals that have signed up for the program are still receiving crayons to this day! All of them have seen a continual impact from our crayon donations.
We love it when hospitals come to us to share their stories and gratitude for the donations. One of the best outcomes is hearing about how they greatly reduce anxiety for hospitalized children.
There's a reason why children's hospitals invest in toys, playtime, and art projects. They boost recovery and aid in continued childhood development throughout the period of hospitalization.
Most hospitals who buy crayons with their own budgets purchase large bulk packs to save money. University of Maryland Children’s Hospital is one example, sharing how picking and sorting crayons for individual kids used to take away critical hours from staff.
Parents and staff who get to learn about the crayon initiative have often gone on to start their own collection drives because they've seen the results first-hand, much like Shannon Joslin.
Since we re-manufacture crayons through a rigorous recycling process, hospitals have the peace of mind of knowing that everything is safe and sterile for their children.
We want to help as many hospitals as possible, which is why it's tough for us to turn hospitals away. Unfortunately, some requests come through that we're simply not able to fulfill yet due to a lack of supplies. If you're interested in getting involved and learning more about recycling, consider running a crayon donation drive.