Kids Charities Can’t Forget Caregivers

One of the things that we like to think sets Deliver the Dream apart from other nonprofit charities for children with cancer and other serious conditions and diseases is the fact that we reach out not only to the kids who need us but to their whole families.  

In fact, that’s why Pat Moran, past chairman and current board member of JM Family Enterprises, Inc., gathered the charitable donations needed to get Deliver the Dream off the ground 18 years ago.  She had seen firsthand what a diagnosis of cancer, autism, multiple sclerosis of any other challenging illness, disability or crisis could do to a family. 

Pat had the vision and the compassion to see that what these families needed was a break. They needed a program that could help them cope with the stress and the situation. Above and beyond that, she knew that giving these families the opportunity to come together and enjoy being a family could help strengthen the bonds that had always sustained them. 

Caring for the Caregivers

According to the Mayo Clinic, one of the risk factors that makes you more likely to suffer from caregiver stress is “being female.” Maybe it just appears that way because the majority of caregivers are women. Either way, it’s an important reminder that women need to take care of themselves. 

It’s like the safety demonstration at the beginning of every airline flight you have ever boarded: be sure to attach your own oxygen mask before helping your children or anyone else you are traveling with. If you don’t take care of yourself, you aren’t going to be able to help anyone. 

“As a caregiver, you may be so focused on your loved one that you don’t realize that your own health and well-being are suffering,” the health experts at the Mayo Clinic say. 

They advise you to watch for the following indications that you could be suffering from caregiver stress:

• You are constantly worrying. 
• You feel sad or overwhelmed. 
• Fatigue
• Irregular sleep habits
• You find yourself snapping at your loved ones and flying off the handle over little things. 
• You have lost interest in activities you used to enjoy.
• You have developed physical complaints like body aches or frequent headaches.
• You are increasingly turning to alcohol, drugs or prescription medications to help you get through the day. 

A charity that supports children and their families is what Pat Moran wanted for our community when she founded Deliver the Dream in 2002. If we can help you, we hope you will contact us.