LRHS invites the community to Caps for Kids day

Over 15,000 children in the United States are diagnosed with cancer each year.

In response to this towering statistic, Lind-Ritzville High School will be holding a Caps for Kids day on Friday, Nov. 18.

During Caps for Kids day, students and faculty can donate three dollars to the Caps for Kids organization in exchange for the ability to wear their favorite hat in school all day.

Dr. Stephen Heinrich, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon out of New Orleans founded Caps for Kids in 1993 as a nonprofit organization.

Their objective is to provide baseball caps autographed by celebrities to children who lose their hair as a result of cancer treatments.

The idea for the organization began when Dr. Heinrich gave a young Auburn University fan battling cancer a cap autographed by Terry Bowden, then football coach at Auburn University, and Bobby Bowden, then football coach at Florida State University.

Dr. Heinrich’s initial goal was “to provide all children receiving chemotherapy at Children’s Hospital in New Orleans with an autographed cap by a notable personality.

After some publicity, the goal was met, and Caps for Kids began to expand.”

The Caps for Kids website explains, “After experiencing the joy a simple hat could bring, Dr. Heinrich organized Caps for Kids to lift the spirits of young cancer patients nationwide.”

Today, the organization consists of over 130 chapters in the United States and Canada, which now includes Lind-Ritzville High School.

The LRHS Associated Student Body (ASB) is leading the event on Nov. 18.

ASB advisor Donna Koch explained, “We consistently have kids who want to wear their hats in the building on a daily basis. With this program for three dollars they will be allowed to wear their hats for one day for a good cause.”

Koch continued of the emotional impact of the organization, “We hope that students will realize how lucky they are to be healthy and able to wear a hat while attending school while there are children who don’t have the same opportunities and are just fighting for their life.”

Jamie O’Berry, program manager at Caps for Kids, further expands on the impact of the organization, “As you can imagine, having cancer at any age is a traumatic experience, but having it as a child is even more anguishing.”

“The caps we provide are symbols of hope for these children,” O’Berry added.

Cancer awareness has been an underlying theme at LRHS this year.

Koch said, “Through the breast/ovarian cancer awareness campaign in October, we saw that many students know someone who has been touched by cancer.”

“By providing cap for kids, not only can it help them physically with helping to regulate body temperature, but it can also affect them emotionally in realizing someone cares and is thinking of them,” Koch continued.

While the emotional impact on the children is impossible to quantify, Caps for Kids does associate data with their accomplishments.

Last year, Caps for Kids raised $39,011. This sum was used to distribute 877 autographed caps to children battling cancer across the country.

Regarding community involvement with LRHS’s first Caps for Kids day, Koch explained, “Community members can sponsor a student by paying the three dollars in the office or they can even pay three dollars in the high school office and then wear their own hat to work all day.

“We will be passing out special receipts to students to show that they support Cap for Kids—community members could also have a receipt to take to work.”

O’Berry noted, “The more money we raise, the more caps we send.”

It follows, then, that Koch said, “Any and all donations are gladly accepted.”

Everyone who participates in the Caps for Kids organization helps them to reach their overarching goal: “to motivate and inspire by putting a cap on each [young patient’s] head.

“For children and adolescents diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, the support of their ‘Cap Hero’ during their treatment helps turn their struggles into triumphs.”