21 Nov Chicagoland’s Needy Children Receive Toy and Clothing Donations that Lift Their Spirits

• My Joyful Heart 
• Mokena, IL 
• https://myjoyfulheart.org/
• Lives Impacted: 100+

As Told to Good360 by My Joyful Heart 

My Joyful Heart, an organization that provides life’s necessities and encouragement to Chicagoland’s children in need, receives items from throughout the year from the Disney Store through Good360 for the 1,100 children enrolled in our program.  We are thankful for the wide range of items they donate, from beautiful storybook costumes to character clothing and fabulous toys! The Disney donations are of highest quality and all the items we receive are beyond our budget.  The kids are so excited to receive these gifts with their beloved characters. Because of Good 360, we have a wonderful relationship with the Disney Store and its cast members…they even hold school supply collection drives for our kids! 

The donations we receive through Good 360 are truly helping us to make a difference in the lives of the children we serve. My Joyful Heart is a unique non-profit charity that brings hope to impoverished children across the Chicagoland area by providing them with personalized gifts and letters of encouragement throughout the year. The children enrolled in our program are living in tough circumstances and are dealing with adult-sized issues. Most are from single-parent households, have special needs or are homeless. We help these children by remembering them five times throughout the year with basic life essentials, clothing, hygiene, school supplies, books, personalized holiday and birthday gifts. My Joyful Heart makes sure every child feels special, loved and remembered. 

Through observation or assessment, the children can be recommended for enrollment into the My Joyful Heart program by school administrators, social workers, state licensed childcare professionals, church leaders or caseworkers. We do not have direct contact with the children we serve; however, we do request and receive thank you notes. One child wrote to us, “Thank you so much for what you give me. I like the books and I love my princess doll. She is my best friend.” A special needs child in our program was described to us as having a “constantly beaming smile” when he got his very own character sweatshirt. His mother sent a letter telling us how thankful she was because it was something she could never afford to give him.