Lights For Kids

Check out our interview on New Day Cleveland yesterday!!!

Helping Hospitalized Kids Lights For KidsMaking hospital stays easier for kids! Learn more about Lights For Kids online.

Here is our new Lights For Kids Amazon Wishlist!

Lights For Kids Wishlist 2023 | Amazon Gift List

Help spread joy, comfort, and kindness to children's hospitals across the U.S. by donating to Lights For Kids!!!

Lights For Kids Winter Fundraiser, organized by Olivia Messina Want to join me in making a difference? I'm raising money to benefit Lights For Kids… Olivia Messina needs your support for Lights For Kids Winter Fundraiser

Hi everyone! It’s been a while since I’ve reintroduced Lights For Kids and myself so I ask you for a moment of time to tell you my story and about the charitable work we do at Lights For Kids.

My name is Olivia Messina and I am the founder of Lights For Kids. I’m a 20-year-old third-year honors student studying Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati. Lights For Kids (LFK) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to making hospital stays easier for children across the U.S. Hospital stays can often cause large amounts of loneliness, stress, anxiety, and depression in children which slows the healing process. We work to make a child's hospital room a more comforting, cheerful, and healing environment through the donation of string lights (for kids to decorate their rooms with) and joy-bringing items (used by child life specialists to help distract children from the scariness and pain of medical procedures and the hospital setting in general).

What a lot of people don’t realize or understand is the importance of what we do. Any parent who’s had a child in the hospital understands the struggle of not being able to be with their child 24/7 during the hospitalization. Work, other children, other (holiday) responsibilities or obligations, sometimes kids are alone in hospital. Our lights help children feel less alone and scared during their hospital stays. They make the hospital rooms more cheerful, welcoming spaces that kids are comfortable staying in. Our joy-bringing items are mostly used by child life specialists to help distract kids from the scariness and pain of medical procedures and the hospital setting in general. But during this time of year, many children’s hospitals set up mini gift shops for parents to pick out holiday gifts for their kids using the donations they receive. Hospital stays cause tight budgets and sometimes don’t leave enough money for presents. These gift shops created by the donations of others relieve the stress of parents of not having enough money for gifts and helps ensure that every child receives a present during the holidays.

This picture is of me on the day I was discharged from UH Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital. I had major surgery on December 16th, 2016 to correct a defect in my leg that prevented me from walking correctly. A 1-night stay turned into 3 due to pain management issues. The surgery was during my favorite time of year—8 days before Hanukkah, 9 days before Christmas, and 6 days before my birthday. The hospital was the last place I wanted to be. I was stressed, anxious, and in a lot of pain. But what helped me through my hospital stay (besides the amazing staff, and my friends & family) was my string lights that I brought from home. They brought me comfort, joy, and cheer at a time when I was lacking in all three and struggled to find them in the hospital. The lights also proved to have the added benefit of helping the nurses during the night by providing them with enough light to see while checking on me without having to turn on the light above my head and wake me up. When I was getting discharged, I gave my lights to a little boy across the hall who was going to have to spend Christmas and New Years in the hospital. His face lit up with excitement as his grandmother helped him put them up in his hospital room. I knew they were going to help him like they helped me.

Fast forward about 10 months to my freshman year at Solon High School. I decided that I wanted to collect lights to donate to UH Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital to help kids who were going to be hospitalized during the holidays. My goal was to give lights as many sick kids as possible to give them a source of comfort and happiness during their times of struggles and pain. That year, I donated 213 lights thanks to my SHS peers and supporters who donated. Since then I’ve been working extremely hard to reach as many sick kids as possible across the U.S. with lights and joy-bringing items (toys). In 2020, I officially turned my work into a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization called Lights For Kids. To date, we’ve reached 38 children's hospitals in 27 U.S. states and have donated 5,140 sets of lights and 1,134 joy-bringing items.

I want to continue doing this important work for as long as possible. But I can’t do it alone. Lights For Kids relies solely on the support of the community. I ask you to please consider spreading some kindness and cheer to kids and families who are in rough circumstances due to medical issues. Use this opportunity as a teaching lesson for your kids about the importance of giving to others and spreading kindness. I need your help!

You may be wondering, “how can I help spread kindness and cheer?” DONATE! The following images are the items we’re collecting, where our donation collection bins are, and how to make a monetary donation via PayPal and Venmo.
I appreciate your time, attention, and support! To learn more, please check out lights4kids.org. Questions or comments can be left in the comment section below, PMed to me, or emailed to [email protected]. Don’t forget to follow Lights For Kids on Facebook at . Thank you and happy holidays!!!

Tomorrow is GIVING TUESDAY!!! Please help us spread happiness, light, comfort, and cheer to as many sick kids as possible this year by making a donation!!!
Check out Lights4kids.org to learn more about what we do!

It's that time of year! Lights For Kids is teaming up with some ✨AMAZING✨ businesses this year to bring happiness and light to hospitalized kids across the U.S.! The collection drive and fundraiser is running NOW until December 20th!
Let's spread some kindness and joy!

Donation bins for this year’s winter collection drive and fundraiser are going out today! Thank you to Burgers 2 Beer Solon,Pop Culture CLE, Where Ya Bin - Solon, OH, PAINT Nail Bar Cleveland, Cuts N Curls For Boys & Girls, The Turning Pointe: Dance and Fitness, Sir Troy's Toy Kingdom, Palm Beach Tan, and Spa Lavender for hosting our toy donation bins, and to D-BAT Solon for hosting our monetary donation bin (great way to get rid of spare change while making a difference)! More places to soon join!

If we host a Movie Night in the Park fundraising event in late July or early August, would you and your family attend? Please take a moment to complete our poll so we can determine whether we should do the event. Thank you!

Can you spare a few moments to take my survey? Please take the survey titled "Possible Lights For Kids Event". Your feedback is important!

Thank you for your amazing donation and generosity!!! We can’t wait to give them to our children’s hospitals for their patients!

Huge thank you to both and for your amazing donations!!! We can’t wait to distribute these to our children’s hospitals and brighten the lives of sick kids nationwide. Keep spreading happiness and light!

Holiday shopping that supports charity?! LIGHTS FOR KIDS T-SHIRTS FOR SALE!!! Local pickup and delivery are available for the Solon area and surrounding cities. Sizes adult small-2XL available. All proceeds ensure we can reach as many hospitalized children as possible with our lights and toys this year! DM us to place your order!

Want to spread some holiday kindness from your couch? Support Lights For Kids by fulfilling items from our Amazon wishlist! And make your purchase through Amazon Smile with Lights For Kids as your charity of choice!
https://smile.amazon.com/hz/charitylist/ls/WM9381F665CB/ref=smi_ext_lnk_lcl_cl

Charity Lists

Purchase your Lights For Kids T-shirt TODAY to help ensure we can reach as many sick kids as possible this year with our donations!

Hospitals are lining up to receive donations of lights and toys! We've got Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, Children's Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, Shriners Hospital for Children New England, and Bronson Children's Hospitals to name a few!

Thank you for your amazing donation and for spreading kindness! Your donation will be brightening the lives of so many hospitalized children this year!

Need a last-minute holiday gift that benefits a charity at the same time!!! We're selling NEW Lights For Kids T-shirts! Local pickup and delivery are available for the Solon area and surrounding cities. Sizes adult small-2XL available. All proceeds ensure we can reach as many hospitalized children as possible with our lights and toys this year!

Only 5 days left to drop off your donation at one of our awesome partner locations!!!

We are set up and ready to go selling new Lights For Kids shirts and homemade cookies at the Solon Hometown Holiday Market today!!! Come and visit!!!

Thank you for your kind donation of earth-friendly toys! You’re donation will brighten the lives of hospitalized children nationwide!!!

We are so excited to be partnering with awesome local businesses like Turning Pointe: Dance and Fitness!!!

We are teaming up with Lights for Kids again this holiday season. The studio will be collecting donations through December 16!
Check them out: Lights For Kids

These are all of the awesome places where you can drop off your Donation for Lights For Kids! We're accepting donations NOW through Friday, December 16th! You can also bring your donations to the Solon Hometown Holiday Market at the Solon Community Center on Saturday, December 10th from 10 am to 4 pm!

This year we're collecting battery-operated string lights, AA batteries, and other joy-bringing items—coloring books, puzzle books, sticker books, coloring materials (crayons/markers), fidget/sensory toys (stress balls, pop-its, etc.), action figures and dolls (all ages and genders), and lego/building sets (small kits). All items must be new and in unopened packaging to be accepted.

Monetary donations can be made via PayPal (PayPal.me/l4k) and Venmo (-1).

Check out this new article about Lights For Kids, written by the University of Cincinnati!!!

Criminal Justice student's nonprofit Initiative: Lights For Kids Sophomore Criminal Justice student Olivia Messina founded a nonprofit organization that donates string lights and toys to children around the country.

6 years ago, I was counting down to the surgery that would help me walk again (the surgery that led to the start of Lights For Kids). Today, I ran my first 5k! It's been a long journey with 3 surgeries in 6 years but now I'm in my 5th year competitively swimming, 2nd year boxing, and I started running after my 3rd knee surgery in May 2022. In honor of this, I encourage you to make a donation to Lights For Kids via PayPal (paypal.me/l4k), Venmo (-1), or our website (http://lights4kids.org/Monetary-Donations.html) and to the Mayerson JCC of Cincinnati, the host of this fantastic race! I wouldn't be where or who I am today without the amazing doctors who have fixed my knees over the years, physical therapists, swim coaches, boxing coaches, and all my friends and family who have cheered for me along the way. Thank you everyone for your support!!!

It's that time of year again! Lights For Kids is preparing for our annual Winter Collection Drive. We are looking for any individuals or businesses who are interested in supporting our collection and fundraising efforts this year. If this matches you or anyone else you know, please share it with them! The packet attached contains important details regarding how to get in contact with us if you or your business is interested in supporting us this year. Feel free to message me through Facebook or Instagram or email [email protected] with any questions or comments. Have a great day!!!

It's October! Our winter collection drive and donation season are getting closer! Help us ensure a successful year by making a donation. Every bit helps! We donate to 34 children's hospitals in 25 U.S. states and hope to continue growing. But we can't do it without your support.

Funds donated will go towards nationwide shipping costs (to support our 34 children's hospitals in 25 U.S. states, and counting), materials costs, general operations, and more.

Please consider making a donation to Lights For Kids today! Like and follow our Facebook and Instagram pages to stay tuned about what's in store for LFK this year!

Lights For Kids is in MAJOR NEED of AA batteries for our lights shipments this month!!! We are packing shipments for at least 4 hospitals over the next couple weeks and need batteries for them! We will accept any quantity and any brand. If you have new, unopened packages of AA batteries that you are willing to donate, please PM us at Lights For Kids. Thank you!