Welcome!

We’re For a Day Foundation and we’re thrilled to meet you! For 20 years, we’ve been quietly serving kids with cancer and other serious illnesses with quality of life programs throughout the US - over 8,000 of them, in fact! Specifically, we host parties in hospital playrooms, like Queen for a Day & Hero for a Day, to bring a little piece of childhood directly to the hospital playroom.

If you aren’t familiar with childhood cancer, over 15,000 kids and teens will be diagnosed with the disease this year - JUST THIS YEAR! That’s 15,000 childhoods interrupted, to say the least. In addition to treatments that cause massive physical changes and the isolation from friends and a normal schedule, patients and their siblings experience emotional trauma as well.

That’s where we come in. For a couple hours, we’re there to treat the child with play and laughter and smiles. Maybe even a little dancing or ‘flying!’ From mini makeovers with Almay cosmetics, kid-friendly nail polish, tiaras and boas, to superhero feats in capes and masks and games with fire fighters and police officers, we aim to distract, cheer up, and support.

COVID UPDATE: Hospitals have severely restricted visitor access, even to siblings and parents of patients. FADF is diligently working to continue or even increase access to our programs. We will primarily shift to digital engagement, and hopefully build a network to send activities directly to patients and families, or even in bulk to hospitals.

We’re working on: online scavenger hunts, video-guided crafts, digital pet therapy videos, home-based science experiments, and celebrity/character features. Join our volunteer email notifications to get updates on these developments.

The CARES Act makes available additional donation provisions for individuals looking to donate: one-time, above-the-line deduction for cash contributions (up to $300 for individuals and $600 for married couples who take the standard deduction) & only applies to cash donations. This means that if you take the standard deduction on your personal tax returns, you can make cash donations totaling $300/$600 and make an additional deduction on top of the standard deduction. Those who itemize are also given additional considerations: 100% of their 2020 AGI. This means you can lower your taxable income by donating. Corporations may deduct up to 25% of taxable income. These only apply to cash donations to public charities.

We implement these fun times through a network of local chapters throughout the US. You can plug into a chapter or look into starting one yourself! See our current chapter list here: LOCAL CHAPTERS

and explore starting a chapter with us here: START A LOCAL CHAPTER

Otherwise, you can host a supply drive (as an individual or a company), purchase items from our Amazon registry, donate, or join our Board of Directors. Get started here: TAKE ACTION

Donations are our #1 need.

COVID CHANGES: During this unprecedented time, we’re reworking our budget strategy to address the new landscape. We still don’t know exactly what that looks like, but we recognize we have an opportunity to reach even more children than we have before. While most of our programming will be digital, and therefore presumptuously less costly than our in-person events, we expect this new direction to need more funds than our standard programs. With our programs unattached to in-person events, we can provide more engagement opportunities on demand. This may mean investing in better online hosting platforms or an increase in shipping costs, to send activities directly to families.We invite you to donate to let the kids and families know that they are supported.

Non-COVID needs: Our structure allows us to purchase bulk items at wholesale pricing, then distribute supplies to local chapters as needed. So, while you could buy items for us, we can make your dollar go further. This also allows the home office to absorb indirect costs, saving the time, money, and energy of our local volunteers. Specifically, we’re looking for donors to cover these items and amounts:

• Founder’s Circle - 12 donors committed to $2500/year each, covering our indirect costs, so we can focus on the kids! (can be a one-time or recurring donation) - donate here or email jenna @ foradayfoundation.org

• Hero’s Heroes - donors committed to a $50/month recurring donation - we’ll send you a For a Day canvas tote bag as a memento

• Local chapter sponsors - small businesses or corporate volunteers can connect with a local chapter to sponsor a hospital visit and possibly even volunteer, too! Email jenna @ foradayfoundation.org to inquire. *Contingent upon group numbers & hospital availability

• Small donations go a long way with us! $5 covers the cost of a superhero cape or a tiara; $25 could cover the cost of a make-up kit; $250 can cover all the activities we bring for each hospital visit (crafts, mad libs, etc). Consider a monthly recurring donation so we know we’re covered for the year.