MTG United for Peace and toy shop Lekmer want to make the hospital stay a little brighter for young patients.
To learn that a child has cancer is indescribably difficult, for the whole family. To spend the time at hospital is a demanding time, especially for the children. Our charity MTG United for Peace, which uses play and football as a means to help children and youngsters, donated toys to cancer wards at some of the biggest hospitals in Denmark in cooperation with toy shop sponsor Lekmer. The aim was to make the time spent in hospital a little more bearable and maybe even make the young patients forget their hardship for a while whilst playing. But there was a small problem:
“When we opened all the bags of toys I could see that there were a lot of lovely things that undoubtedly would bring happiness to the children,” said MTG United for Peace’s representative in Denmark Lonnie Christensen. “But it was tricky to come up with a way of distributing the different toys in a fair way. The child who received a colouring book would, of course, get envious of the one who got the doll’s pram, and so on. That’s why we had a discussion with the individual wards on how to make the most of the toys. It was decided that the toys would be used for different purposes.”
On 12 March the first gifts were presented to the school teacher at the cancer ward at Rikshospitalet in Copenhagen. The teacher will make sure the toys will be used in the best way, bringing joy and happiness to as many young patients as possible.
At Aarhus University Hospital in Skjeby on 11 April Lonnie Christensen handed over the toys to the cancer ward’s dinner lady who also arranges birthday parties and gives out presents to the children on the ward. Now there’s a whole bunch of birthday presents just waiting to be wrapped up and handed out to the young patients.
There was a lot of happiness buzzing around the wards when the staff received the presents which encourage play and will bring joy to many children in the near future:
”Both teachers and the staff were delighted; they know that the donations will bring a lot of happiness. A little surprise can make a world of difference to the children’s mood during the time they spend in hospital!” said MTG United for Peace’s representative in Denmark Lonnie Christensen.
On 9 May Lekmer and MTG United for Peace’s donations arrived at the hospital in Aalborg where the toys will be used as a reward for the children who have to have their skin pierced for a blood test or to receive medication. Maybe it feels a little less difficult for the young patients if they know they will receive a reward when everything feels difficult?
For many years MTG has been involved in numerous campaigns to raise awareness on cancer, we have also arranged fundraising TV and radio shows to raise money for cancer research. After receiving a personal request from a boy battling with cancer, who really wanted some good entertainment, Viasat in Sweden, in partnership with Disney and Hoist, is currently installing a special channel package at all the childhood cancer clinics in the country. The aim is to offer children a way to unwind and help them escape, if only for a little while, from the tough time in they and their families are going through.
In January 2012 MTG United for Peace helped the Childhood Cancer Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden, to arrange some football fun for families with children recovering from cancer.