Comfort Kits for Hope

By Chaplain Danny Cavett, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

As appeared in

I’ve been a hospital chaplain for more than 34 years and one of the best tools I’ve found for reaching young patients is something I get free from Guideposts, thanks to donations from readers like you.

They’re called Comfort Kits.

Remember that old tool kit you had as a kid to hold all your treasures? That’s what a Comfort Kit is like. Inside are stickers, a bracelet, crayons, a journal and a soft toy shaped like a star. How a kid responds to them tells me a lot about who they are. For instance, when a little girl hugs the star Sparkle tight, I can tell she wants to feel secure again, or when a boy draws pictures of his family, I know who’s important to him.

Once, a 10-year-old boy who’d been in a terrible car accident came into the E.R. He was so scared we couldn’t get any information out of him. We gave him a Comfort Kit. He took the crayons and started drawing pictures of his family, especially of his grandmother. At last we were able to get her name and get in touch with her.

When I hand out the star stickers, I often ask, “Who are the stars here at the hospital?” I learn the name of a doctor or nurse. More than once that’s helped us identify the staff member who can best connect with the child.

A hospital can be a frightening place for kids. That’s why I’m grateful to have a Comfort Kit full of treasures and distractions. In every one there’s a bracelet that reads “I’m Special,” and that’s the most important thing I can communicate to a child, that he or she is special in God’s sight.

When you make a donation to Guideposts Outreach, you're helping me and the hundreds of other chaplains who give away Comfort Kits to remind children, often in desperate circumstances, that they are loved by God. What a comfort that is.

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