Fearlessly Facing Fifty And Beyond

EP206: From Heartbreak to Hope: Meet Casey Baynes

• Amy Schmidt • Season 3 • Episode 206

Share episode

Fearlessly Facing FUNDRAISING! I love sharing incredible stories of amazing people - and at this stage of life we often find ourselves with a bit more bandwidth. And maybe this story and this incredible organization will ignite something in you. Meet Casey Baynes, Founder of The Casey Cares Foundation.

Casey Baynes founded Casey Cares Foundation at age 21 after hearing a child say "I wish I had cancer" while volunteering at a hospital, recognizing the need to support ALL critically ill children regardless of diagnosis.

• Founded over 25 years ago, Casey Cares has helped over half a million critically ill children
• Unlike traditional wish organizations, provides ongoing support throughout treatment journey rather than one-time experiences
• Focuses on entire family unit including parents and siblings who are often overlooked
• Creates normalcy through simple activities like movie and pizza nights, pajama deliveries, and group events
• Offers palliative care approach that improves treatment outcomes by up to 70%
• Continues supporting families after treatment ends, including bereavement services
• Every 12 minutes, Casey Cares helps a participant in their program
• Annual "Biggest Pajama Party" on April 16th raises awareness and collects pajamas for hospitalized children
• Operates primarily east of the Mississippi with headquarters in Baltimore
• Small contributions and volunteer efforts make meaningful differences - "It doesn't take a lot of zeros to give back"

Visit caseycares.org to learn how you can help critically ill children and their families through volunteering, donating, or connecting them with Casey Cares services.

--------------------------------
Ready to FEARLESSLY FACE all the F WORDS - be inspired and encouraged?

Get a copy of Amy's Best selling book: CANNONBALL! FEARLESSLY Facing Midlife and Beyond here


Fearlessly Facing Fifty and Beyond has over 200 episodes with inspiration and stories to age fearlessly and connect confidently to others thriving at midlife and beyond.

Make sure to share with friends and family and would love if you could leave a review. There are so many shows out there floating around and if you are finding value in the Fearlessly Facing Fifty podcast share it with the world - a review means so much.

And don't forget to follow alo

Ready to FEARLESSLY FACE all the F WORDS – be inspired and encouraged?

Get a copy of Amy’s Best selling book: CANNONBALL! FEARLESSLY Facing Midlife and Beyond here

Fearlessly Facing Fifty and Beyond has over 200 episodes with inspiration and stories to age fearlessly and connect confidently to others thriving at midlife and beyond.

Make sure to share with friends and family and would love if you could leave a review. There are so many shows out there floating around and if you are finding value in the Fearlessly Facing Fifty podcast share it with the world – a review means so much.

And don’t forget to follow along on all the socials:

http://instagram.com/theamy.schmidt

https://www.instagram.com/fearlesslyfacingfifty_fwords/

https://www.facebook.com/fearlesslyfacingfifty/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-schmidt-a5684412/

Speaker 1:

Hey, fearless Friends, it's Amy Schmidt and welcome back to another episode of the Fearlessly Facing 50 and Beyond podcast.

Speaker 1:

I'm excited for this episode. You know what? There are so many things that tug at our heartstrings at certain times of our lives. We know that. We know that there are certain organizations and certain things that you say. You know what? I wanna be involved with this.

Speaker 1:

Well, I recently learned about an organization called Casey Cares, and today my guest is actually the founder. That person at age 21,. A little spark ignited in Casey Cares Foundation was ignited right there, right then, and you're going to hear the story behind the organization. So this is for all of you that are wondering hmm, I have a little extra time, or maybe I have this gift of you know, sorting through letters, writing letters to people, maybe sorting through gifts, maybe all sorts of those things, and you have a little extra bandwidth. This is just for you.

Speaker 1:

So stay tuned for the series F-Words, and this one is Fearlessly Facing Fundraising, as we meet the one and only Casey Baines. We meet the one and only Casey Baines. Hey, fearless friends. Well, welcome to our episode. Today. I have with me Casey Baines. Welcome to the show. Thanks for having me. You know we just met. We sure did. I can't wait. I know it's so much fun and it was all through connections and I think that's so valuable for people listening and watching around the world today that connections are key. Women are connectors, we're nurturers, we're achievers, we're all of that, but at the end of it, we thread together. These stories and these connections become this masterpiece, and that's why I feel like you know you're sitting here today heading up an organization, a foundation called the Casey Cares Foundation that I want to learn more about and I want to introduce to the world.

Speaker 2:

Well, thank you for having me and being open to learning all about the Casey Cares Foundation. It's hard to believe that we started over 25 years ago 25 years and it all started out because I was I have a family trucking and warehousing a logistics company Okay, and so I'm very involved with that. It's been around for 170 years and I was working with my dad and my brother, even my grandfather at one point. I mean, how cool is that? Okay, that's pretty cool.

Speaker 2:

And to start at such a young age to run an international company, it was quite a dream. But I was brought up Catholic, okay, and so we always had to volunteer and give back. The real story is is when you didn't make it to church, you had to get your butt to a soup kitchen, to a hospital, to somewhere, and it stuck. Even if I did make it to church that week, I still made it a part of my.

Speaker 2:

Exactly so. I was in the hospital volunteering and got chit-chatting with the family, and this little boy was the biggest race car driver fan. He loved NASCAR. How young he was probably seven years old, okay, and that is just. I mean, all seven-year-old boys love trucks, but this kid was really into it.

Speaker 2:

And so he, you know, after talking to him, all he wanted was to meet a race car driver, a real race car driver, and so that stuck with me and I was like you know what, I can try to make a couple calls. So, as luck would have it, the NASCAR circuit was coming to Dover Downs and they had a race coming up. Was able to connect with the driver who two days later walks into the hospital room in his full jumpsuit.

Speaker 2:

Two days later he made this happen. The timing was just perfect and the full jumpsuit the hood of his car. Which did you know? Race car drivers are kind of built like jockeys. Yeah, they're little right.

Speaker 1:

Tiny yeah. They're like little pocket pals, of course, and I don't mean that offensively, but they are. They're little, they're tiny. I had no idea.

Speaker 2:

So the hood of his car looked really, really big, like you wanted to give him a hand, you know. So all this magic is happening. I mean, tears are flowing, there's just so much joy and excitement. And as the volunteer I kind of back away and you know the curtain that divides the two rooms. I hear a voice on the other side say curtain that divides the two rooms. I hear a voice on the other side say I wish I had cancer. Maybe I would get cool stuff too.

Speaker 2:

And at this point I was 21 years old and I was like what, who wishes for cancer? I had to see for myself who would wish for cancer. So as I walk around the curtain, I poke my head and I see this mom, like making a human shield between her boy and what's going on over here. And at that moment I became obsessed, obsessed with helping all critically ill children. He didn't want cancer, he wanted somebody to wrap their arms around him and say dude, we've got you, got you. And that's how Casey Cares began. Just one little boy wishing that he had cancer.

Speaker 1:

And you were 21. Yeah, wow, that's pretty incredible.

Speaker 2:

It's crazy and people are like, wow, the insight you had, I didn't have any insight.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I was going to say. I mean, I always ask people your passion and purpose, is that that moment for you, is that when that intersected? It was like, okay, this is my thing, yeah, but you still don't even know that that's happening, Like you still don't.

Speaker 2:

I've always been a high performer. I graduated college before high school, Like you know, that's always been, yeah, that's always been my. So I didn't know what I was doing. Right, Like a lot of things in life, you know you do one thing and then I'm like, oh, I'm going to help this little boy who wish he has cancer. And then they told somebody else. And then I was like, oh, I'm going to help a couple more kids. This is, this would be great to do for them. And that's how Casey Care started One family and five families. Then, before you know it, we have helped over half a million critically ill children Half a million, that's nuts Nationwide.

Speaker 1:

We're east of the Mississippi, east of the Mississippi, okay.

Speaker 2:

So think about it like this I mean, people are like oh, why aren't you national? We could be, but we're not a for-profit industry, Right?

Speaker 1:

Our mission is to never say no to a critically ill child, and in 25 years we've never denied the request of a critically ill child. So to us that's true success. That is a wish. It's a little like make a wish in some ways. I mean, you heard that and it was like, okay, I'm going to have this happen. And you made it happen in two days, which is incredible. Incredible resources and incredible just that relationships you must have. It's relationships.

Speaker 2:

It's relationships. It's about connections and about I mean, you know all about connections, right, it's a much important thing, it is, and you have that embedded trust. Like you said, we just met, but through our connections there's already this start, this rapport, and that's so important. And I think that's where we've had so much success at Casey Cares, because it started out with the one family and then, before we knew it, we're like gosh.

Speaker 2:

There's a real need, because at Casey Cares we don't help just the critically ill child, but it's the mom, the dad, the brothers, the sisters, because when a child is diagnosed with a critical illness, the ripples of that diagnosis are felt throughout the entire family and in a different way. So we want to be sure that we can be there for each and every one of that family, of that family unit, and that's so important to us, because my husband is from a family that had three siblings that had juvenile diabetes just very rare.

Speaker 2:

I mean. Think back to the 70s and 80s pancreatic transplants, unheard of All of these things where we are like, oh, juvenile diabetes, that's manageable. Now, it wasn't that, it wasn't right. So he understands. He was the healthy child, so everybody else was focused on the sick kids. Yeah, and he had baseball. He didn't get his baseball championship game because somebody was in crisis.

Speaker 2:

So that's what our connection is with helping the siblings and helping the moms and dads. His family did an awesome job and the best they could do, but they didn't have supportive programs like AC Care. Right, we help families from birth to age 18 and even after the child loses their battle or is in remission, and that comes because my family lost. I had a brother that died and the impact that that makes for a lifetime. It's not a hard year, it's not a hard five years, it's a lifetime. It's a lifetime. And so we're there to connect with their families and help them build a new future, a new future without their love, and that's it really is about those little moments and lasting moments in life.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. So I want you to walk me back to that moment at 21, then that you did this, you know, and now something, the spark is ignited and you're like this is what I'm going to do. What, what's next? What did you do next?

Speaker 2:

Well, so we started with these, the families, and we wanted to give them things, because in the hospital there's not a lot of glorious things you can do in the hospital. There's just not.

Speaker 2:

And so you hear about all these wish-granting organizations which are amazing, and we tell everybody to use them, use them, use them. But let's think about like isn't it great to have something to look forward to every month or every week, versus that one big vacation? And imagine if you're vomiting, if you feel like absolute crap and you can't get out of bed. How excited are you going to be to go to Hawaii? Probably not real excited. Oh, by the way, your doctor's probably not even going to let you go, right? Oh, and your parents? They've probably already missed so much time at work that can you imagine going in and being like hey boss another week off.

Speaker 2:

What do you mean? You just missed a week last week. So KC Cares has really gone in and talked to the social workers, the families, the kids. What do you guys want? What do you need? And that's how we built our programs.

Speaker 2:

So, from our life cycle is that we started out with doing local activities because the families could do it. What they would do is if they were on their way to clinic. You know, I mean, we're parents, this is what we do. We're going to give you a reward. You're really good at this. We're going to go, take you to that, right, and so that's what we did. That's how it started out. You have a really good treatment. You want to go to the baseball game, and guess what? We're going to get you down on the field so you can watch batting practice. Well, so then little Johnny is like okay, okay, I'm scared because they're going to do a spinal tap and this is terrible, but I'm going to go to that baseball game. Like, those are those little carrots that we were dangling to help these families get through it.

Speaker 2:

We do movie and pizza nights at home because these families, their immune system, are compromised, and but when we first started doing it. Yes, we knew their immune systems were compromised. We didn't have the funding. We could do movie and pizza night for 50 bucks, you know. Get the local pizza shop to donate three or four pies and the guests and the rentals. It's all very affordable. But it's actually what the family needs, because they can get together and they can have a fun night at home.

Speaker 1:

Distractions, fun that's it Some normalcy? Yes, if there is such a thing.

Speaker 2:

Because a lot of times families and we all know this from things that we experience in our life, even if we don't have a critically ill child when there's real sadness, you wonder is it okay to be happy, is it okay to smile Like I'm still really sad? Yes, you can. You can have moments of joy, you can have moments of light. But a lot of times the moms, the dads, are so stressed they're just trying to put one foot in front of the other. They don't have time to think about an at-home movie and pizza night. They don't have time to think about oh gosh, if we just had a puzzle. So we're going to send surprise deliveries to the families at the hospital or at home of games, of puzzles, of art projects, of seeds, seeds, Planting things, to watching things grow, wow, and to go through different stages. It means so much to our families who are going through so many different stages and phases.

Speaker 1:

Can't even imagine Boy. That's really incredible and it's so custom tailored and so special and so unique.

Speaker 2:

So unique and it's, but it's yet very simple. We do so unique and it's, but it's, yeah, it's very simple. We do group parties Once a month. We do group parties. We bring everybody together and again, remember, kc Cares helps all critically ill children. So think cancer, think sickle cell, think undiagnosed children, think of complications, of you know we used to have a lot of HIV positive kids, but science has come so far.

Speaker 1:

I'm sure you've seen so many, so many, I mean so much innovation. But so we have group parties.

Speaker 2:

Because these families used to have their friends. They used to be the soccer moms, right, or they used to be their friends from school, but their kid's too sick, they don't go to school anymore, the kid can't play sports anymore. So these friendships, you know, people do their best and they do meal trains, but you start to lack these common threads. So KC Cares provides a venue for families to get together.

Speaker 1:

The kids are playing laser tag and the parents are sitting there having conversations yes, and the beauty is support system for each other yes and they have different diagnosis.

Speaker 2:

So it's not like you're seeing somebody and being like, oh gosh, our future's grim. Not at all. You're there and supporting and their child might be on a breathing machine and nobody cares. Right Another child may be vomiting, you know, running out the door really quick. Everybody's all hands on deck.

Speaker 1:

Let's help them, because they're going through this Common threads, because they're going through this Common threads Weaves together this masterpiece of people that are all. It's a community. I mean, that's a community and that's what we need.

Speaker 2:

It's an amazing community and we continue to find things. For instance, we had a mom who called. Early on in the stages of the creation of KC Cares, we had a mom call. We were talking about an activity that we were coordinating for her daughter and she was just chit-chatting about her daughter's turning 16 and how this isn't actually how she thought it was going to go Right. And she started to say that at school people are making fun of her because she had a glob of hair that fell out on the desk and the shock and this. It was just a horrible, horrible episode. And plus she's sick, plus she's doing her best to pull herself out of bed in the morning to get to school. And I got off this phone so angry at what these other children were piling on top of what this little girl was already going through.

Speaker 2:

Yes. So we ordered two dozen roses and had it sent to her high school and we didn't say anything. Happy sweet 16. That's what she was calling us about, because we were coordinating something else. And happy sweet 16, thinking of you, that's it. We sent it to the front desk, you know, to the school, didn't hear anything and you know you're like, oh, we overstepped, we went a little too far. And a couple of days later we got a call and the mom was like, was it you? Was it you? Terrible call to get. And I was like, oh hi, yeah, kind of Right. And she's like she went from everybody making fun of her at school to being the most popular girl because she told everybody it was from a college guy that she met. There you go, that's perfect.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's. Yeah, it's those little moments. It's those little moments that they cherish. Yes, wow, so have you had some days that have been really tough? I mean, you've seen so much loss in 25 years and grief, sadness, how do you keep going?

Speaker 2:

It's wicked, yeah, it's wicked, it's wicked and it is. I have three children. Yeah, it's wicked, it's wicked and it is. I have three children. I started Casey cares um in 2000 and I had my first child in 2000. Okay, so the kids are always like oh, that was your first, that's your first child. Um, it's so much loss and it is, uh, unforeseen loss, unimaginable loss. I mean the loss that just leaves you in total agony Because you've established relationships with these families.

Speaker 1:

Yes, I mean you've had those conversations and then all of a sudden something happens. It's got to be very challenging for you.

Speaker 2:

But we focus on what we can control. We focus on the fact that KC Cares is all about palliative care and there's so much science out there that says when you are enrolled in programs like KC Cares, it increases your response. The positive outcomes improve by like 70%.

Speaker 1:

Can you define palliative care for us?

Speaker 2:

So we are there to support the soul, the spirit, the person, and so that way you are primed to receive the medicine. Your body is open, your mind is open and you are saying let's do this. I'm ready to fight, my body's ready to fight because we're taking care of that person, that families their spirit and their mind, and we're giving them a reason to live. That's pretty cool.

Speaker 1:

It's amazing. I mean at 21,. You started. I mean that's amazing.

Speaker 2:

Again, I had no idea what I was doing. I was a little annoyed that I heard somebody wish to have cancer and I didn't want that ever to be spoken again, and that there was such a unmet need to help all critically ill children.

Speaker 1:

And when you say palliative care, now is this in the hospital setting? So is it? You're partnered with hospitals?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, we're partnered with all of the hospitals. But you could even say to me hey Case, actually I have a girlfriend whose granddaughter is trying to figure out what's going wrong with them. They don't know, maybe it's some kind of fantastic. Fill out an application.

Speaker 1:

And we make it easy.

Speaker 2:

Okay, yes, Okay, Because you know, do you remember back to those school days when you got all these papers to fill out at the beginning of the school year? Oh yeah, Imagine when your kid has a critical illness, that the forms you need to fill out are gut wrenching, Like it's just too much, too much. So KC Cares makes it really easy. We have a one-page form that you fill out. You get it into us Within 48 hours. We're going to get back to you and probably Within 48 hours 48 hours and with that in your mail you will have a movie and pizza night. You will probably already be receiving a care package of new pairs of pajamas, whether you're at the hospital or at home, because anything we can do to make you a little bit more comfortable, a little bit more normal, that's what we're going to do Right, so you partner them with organizations, sponsors.

Speaker 1:

Is that who provides the, say pajamas or say whatever it is for that, or how does that work? The?

Speaker 2:

amazing community in which we all live is how that all works. So we partner with hospitals, but anybody could know a critically ill child and just go to our website, fill out the application online, which I'll have on the episode notes.

Speaker 1:

So everybody will have the website, so they can just reach out. Okay, perfect.

Speaker 2:

And. But a lot of their referrals come from social workers because they're in it. You know they're in the trenches so they can really refer. All the children need are frequent hospitalizations to be dealing with a critical illness, and frequent hospitalizations. Again, think about KC Cares, as make a wish on steroids, because it's not just once in a lifetime, it's not once a year, but it's continuously throughout their treatment process and even after. Like we said, we have bereavement groups which focus around yeah, walk me through that after.

Speaker 1:

I'd be curious how that support continues.

Speaker 2:

So, to be honest with you, some families say thank you so much. We appreciate it. We can't do this. We have too many memories, it's too hard for us, and we get that and we stay in close touch with them because maybe they'll want to come back to us in a year. Right, you just never know. You never know, you never know.

Speaker 2:

But then we have other families who little boy Jonathan, he lost his battle and there's such a dear family, such a dear family, and they, after Jonathan lost his battle, they, after Jonathan lost his battle, we sent them to the beach and afterwards she called and she's like it was the most amazing family trip we've ever had and I was like interested that she used the word family and she said it was the first time since his loss that we actually felt together.

Speaker 2:

He was with us the entire time because that was their special place, that's where they went and she's like we could feel him and that was healing for them, wow. And so we have moments like that. And then we also have like support groups that people can join, and the cool part about our support groups is that they're online, so you can be from anywhere, and what I mean about that is the siblings Again mine, so you can be from anywhere. And what I mean about that is the siblings Again. We have some brothers and sisters who are away at college and they still join those support groups. Wow.

Speaker 1:

And they're not.

Speaker 2:

It's not religious based it's not um, you know, as far as like an illness based, it's all about talking about sharing memories of the good times they had, a lot of times that Casey cares provided for them. So that's the common thread that they all come together and can share, because that's what they want to do is they want to keep their loved ones alive.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

And they'll always be alive in their minds and their hearts. But they want to talk about it and share the stories Wow.

Speaker 1:

So what do your kids think? I always ask amazing women like you. I don't know. Do your kids think I always ask amazing women like you? You know, I don't know. You had one, born in 2001. So my youngest is 2003, 1997, 99 and 2003. And I always ask you know, how do your kids view you? You know, what would they say? How would they describe you?

Speaker 2:

I don't know if I want to hear what they'd say but, you know I can share with you some things like I will never forget, when my my youngest at one point said to me mommy, if I was sick, would you spend more time with me? That stinks, that really stinks. So I was. I went to Casey cares every day as if it was my job.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

You know I was just so passionate about helping these families because they are in a fight for their lives, for their child's life, right and gosh. You know you do anything for your kiddos and so sometimes you need help. You need help in doing that because you're just so depleted and I felt like I could help them and help and support them. So that's hard is to hear that from your kids. Yeah, but coincidentally, our daughter, our youngest, was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis when she was 13 and unfortunately misdiagnosed, because I was told that I was surrounded by all these sick kids and I'm projecting on her, as it turns out, not so much. So she has been on treatment part of the treatment and that is chemo for over 10 years and she is now 23 years old and she went out to the real world and realized that that wasn't her passion. She wanted to make a difference and she wanted to make an impact, to try to make the world a better place day after day.

Speaker 1:

So- Apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Right.

Speaker 2:

So now she runs Ohio and Florida for KC Cares so it's so amazing to have her part of the Casey cares family. But her bedside manner is incredible to get to know, like her understanding of to hear her talk about the paint on the walls of where she would get treatment is this weird green mint color. She was 10 years old but she's like that's what these kids are thinking about. Let's give them things to distract them. She just has a really different Right but she's like that's what these kids are thinking about. Let's give them things to distract them. She just has a really different approach, so that's awesome she should be very proud.

Speaker 2:

It's awesome to have her a part of what we do day in and day out and making us better.

Speaker 1:

So when you talked about your family, business and brothers and grandpa and all of that, if I were to have them in the room sitting right now, you know, sitting here and ask them is this just how Casey always has been? Has she always been just a giver and a server and she just wants to help? What would they say?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, I mean like that's just when you, when you peel it back and you take the time to look and to see you're like, oh, absolutely, maybe a pleaser, like oh yeah, I always want everybody to be happy and to be fulfilled and to make sure they're living their best. The best version of themselves.

Speaker 1:

Your energy is so contagious, it's so great, it just exudes just passion and love and you can just tell it, it just comes out of all of your soul, everything. It's just wonderful being around you and just seeing how much you're passionate about this.

Speaker 2:

You see these families, and they are in the worst, they are in the worst part of their journey, and yet they're so grateful and they're so giving and they're so positive. So if they can be that way, heck, what's wrong with the rest of us?

Speaker 1:

Exactly you know and I'm hoping that getting the word out about this. Some people may already know about KC Cares, Some people may not. Some people may have a neighbor that has a critically ill child and they don't know what to do. How many times do you have that when you're like, oh, I wish I could help, I wish I could do something. I wish I could understand. Well, that's what you're here for.

Speaker 2:

That's what you're here for and I would encourage people to get involved. It doesn't matter if it's with Casey Cares, which would be amazing and wonderful, right, because there's nothing better in my world than to help a critically ill child and to also step up and help these moms and dads, because I've had moms come to me in full tears saying I couldn't help my kid, I couldn't make my kids smile, I couldn't give my kid a, I couldn't make my kid smile, I couldn't give my kid a good time. And you stepped in. You're like the favorite aunt. You know they get all excited when there's a message or a box, a delivery from KC Cares. But I would encourage people to get involved, whether it's with the elderly or animals. Anytime you get involved and to give back. I promise you you personally will benefit way more than any one person you help. It's contagious. So true, it is just and there's ways to get help, whether it is like right now, like Casey cares.

Speaker 2:

We have our the biggest pajama day. So we celebrate PJ day like nobody else. We encourage local businesses to get out there. We have people on the weather channel You'll see them in their PJs broadcasting to celebrate National KC Cares Biggest Pajama Party when is that? That is April 16th, okay.

Speaker 2:

And everybody gets involved, whether it's kids going to school in their PJs or kids collecting PJs. So it's important to get our younger generation giving back and they can understand what a favorite pair of PJs. So it's important to get our younger generation giving back and they can understand what a favorite pair of PJs means to them. Imagine what a favorite pair of PJs means to a kid who is sick in the hospital, is stuck in a stiff hospital gown and all of a sudden they get their favorite sports team PJs or their favorite cartoon. It's amazing. And guess what? There's a pair there at the nurse's station for brother, for sister, for mom, for dad. How cool, because I was not looking forward to go visiting my sibling in the hospital, right, but now that I get something fun, let's go, that's amazing.

Speaker 2:

It's so fun.

Speaker 1:

So everybody gets involved.

Speaker 2:

They post their pictures on social media and tag KC Cares. But it's real. We all can appreciate a cozy pair of pajamas and a difference that makes in a life is pretty incredible, pretty incredible. It doesn't take a lot of zeros to give back and I think people have that misunderstanding $25,. A new pair of pajamas really adds up and makes a difference. Yes, that's huge. Every 12 minutes at KC, ca really adds up and makes a difference. Yes, that's huge. Every 12 minutes at Casey cares we're helping a participant and we couldn't do it without the generosity of our communities, the generosity of getting involved and you know, participating in the PJ day, getting involved in volunteering and help coordinating a group of people who are passionate about our mission right, or just coming into the office and helping us do a mailing so many ways to get involved and there's so many wonderfully talented people out there that have the time and the bandwidth to give.

Speaker 1:

And they need to step aside from fear. A lot of people listening. You get 50 or beyond and you're like I'm not needed anymore, I don't need to do this. I don't know what to do, I don't know what my identity is anymore. Step into volunteering, you know. Go in and help with the mailing. So your different office locations will be on your website too. Yes, and where are all the offices? Too many to list.

Speaker 2:

Well, our headquarters is in Baltimore, maryland, in Baltimore, okay, and but. But there's so many opportunities across east of the Mississippi, right, and yes, please don't be fearful. We don't have time for fear. These children have a small window and we need your help, and so there's so many ways to get involved. Tell us what you like to do, what you're good at doing, and we'll find a way, you'll plug them in somewhere. We'll plug them in. I mean, it's a nonprofit. We all wear so many different hats.

Speaker 1:

And that's so great because that's a community too. Yes, so for somebody listening or watching right now and this is like wow, I think I could. I think I could help Help. That's what you're, you know, that's that's all you need to do Pick up the phone, send an email, whatever it is. If you know somebody that's a critically has a critically ill child or is struggling with that journey right now, reach out. This is the perfect organization. So I'm so happy that our paths crossed. Now. This is viewed kind of around the world and you know, all over the country, but there is an event coming up in Sarasota where we are broadcasting from right now. So just fill us in on that real quick.

Speaker 2:

So this event is for the ladies, so we're encouraging all the ladies to come out. It is a fashion show. Yeah, so fun, and it is going to be so much fun. We are going to have great fashions for folks to get to freshen up their wardrobes, but really to come together to support the critically ill children in our community. And then, once the fashion show's over, the DJ is going to start his mix.

Speaker 2:

Oh, that's the best. The ladies are going to have their dancing shoes on and it are going to have their dancing shoes on and it's going to be a really fun night to celebrate life, because, you know, it truly is a gift and we need to live every single day. Because there's so many people out there I mean, we think about the kids in our programs who they used to do their running on the soccer fields or on the baseball diamonds, and now their running's done in the corridors of a hospital. We need to come together to give them, because their childhood is condensed into a few short years and we've got to fill it with everything we can, and it's events like this fashion show that will enable us to do so. Right, that's the support you need.

Speaker 1:

That's so fabulous. So before we leave today and I'll have everything in the episode notes for everybody I want to ask you the question I ask everybody on the podcast, so you're not even ready for this.

Speaker 2:

I don't know, we didn't talk about it, but I know you're going to just nail it.

Speaker 1:

Let's see Casey. If you were sitting on the couch and you look over and there's Casey at 30, what advice would you give her?

Speaker 2:

I would probably tell Casey sit on the couch, because I don't know if I've ever sat on the couch, but I would tell her it's okay. It's okay, it is a process and you are not always going to do it the best at first and it's okay. And it doesn't matter what Sally thinks or what Jenny does. It's your own path and that everybody should be supportive in that path. So surround yourself with the people who will support you, even when you get off the path a little bit.

Speaker 1:

I love that. That's great advice. Isn't that crazy when you think of yourself at 30, like, looking over, I can see Amy at 30. And it's like wow. I just go over, give her a big hug and say it's all going to be okay. Yes, you know, it's all going to be okay. You're doing amazing things. Thank you, casey Baines, for being here. Casey Cares Foundation will share everything in the episode notes. Please reach out, get involved. This is how we build community. Reach out, get involved. This is how we build community. This is how we support each other. So, fearlessly, step into this, whatever it looks like for you, and thank you so much for being here. Thanks for having me. Thanks so much for listening today. We know how valuable your time is and that's why we keep it short and sweet. Don't forget to follow us on all the socials, and you can check out all the links and resources in the show notes. Until next time, go forth and be awesome.