CLEVELAND — The non-profit organization Casey Cares Foundation is on a mission to collect 16,000 pajamas for children who are receiving long term hospital care, and their eight-state effort has spread here to Northeast Ohio.
Each year, the organization holds it's "Casey Cares Biggest PJ Party" in April. The event is centered around National Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day, which falls on April 19 this year.
"The hospital is a cold and scary place and so if we can provide them something warm and cozy to have instead of a scratchy hospital gown, it just really makes it so they feel just a little bit better about what they're going through," said Erin Ritter, Deputy Associate Director at Casey Cares Foundation.
Ritter says the Maryland-based organization has roots in eight states including Ohio, working with all of the children's hospital, but taking requests from any hospital system in the area.
"Anywhere where there's a children's hospital in Ohio, we are absolutely working with them," Ritter said. "Any hospital can request pajamas from us, so they don't have to be a children's hospital, because children get admitted to general hospitals all the time."
Those efforts have been felt by local children, including 6-year-old Olivia Moore, who was recently receiving treatment at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland.
"She was diagnosed in November of 2019 with severe aplastic anemia, and in 2020 she had her very first bone marrow transplant. And then in February she had her second bone marrow transplant," Olivia's father Eric Moore said. "She just got out of the hospital this week actually, after being in for almost 50-some days."
Olivia has been in and out of hospitals, but her condition is rare—only one to two people per million are diagnosed with the condition each year. That has made it difficult for her to receive the extra care many other children with more common conditions have access to, her father said.
"There's so many organizations out there that focus on cancer and so many different types of diseases and stuff, and my daughter, she doesn't have cancer. She's got a completely different kind of bone marrow disorder. And there's really no organizations out there for kids like her," Moore said.
Casey Cares, however, provided extra care to the Moore family during their stay at Rainbow Babies. From pajamas, to a birthday gift and even a signature movie night in where the organization provided a movie, pizza and snacks, the Moore family found comfort thanks, they say, to Casey Cares Foundation.
"It definitely makes life just that little bit easier, takes that extra weight off your shoulders, gives that extra little bit of happiness while they're going through so many difficult things," Moore said. "It makes things just kind of disappear for a little bit and gives her a little bit of normalcy."
This year's Casey Cares Biggest PJ Party is currently underway with donations being collected through April 19. The organization is accepting pajama donations that can be made by ordering them on the online. The organization is also accepting donations of gift cards for pizza delivery and movie rentals.
To order from the Casey Cares Biggest PJ Party's wishlist, click here.
The organization is also encouraging businesses, schools, places of worship and other clubs and organizations to host a virtual pajama party on April 19 and raise awareness to the charity by posting their photos on social media using the hashtag #CaseyCaresBiggestPJParty and tagging @CaseyCares.
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