Ready Bags of Hope: Roc Solid’s partnerships with Children’s Hospitals
There are 43 kids diagnosed with cancer in the US every day. At Roc Solid, we won’t stop until every single family receives a Ready Bag when they hear that devastating news. But we can’t be in every hospital, we can’t sit with every family and make sure they know that they will not fight pediatric cancer alone. So we partner with children’s hospitals all around the US to stand in the gap and love and serve every family right along with us by providing them with Ready Bags. These incredible people at children’s hospitals are called Social Workers and Child Life Specialists—but we like to think of them as superheroes.
How does it work?
We are currently partnered with over 140 children’s hospitals all around the US. We provide them with as many Ready Bags as they request, whenever they need them. They help us reach more families by hand-delivering Ready Bags when their child is diagnosed. Ready Bags also serve the hospitals by helping establish a relationship between the family and the Child Life Team as they unpack the Ready Bag together.
Ready Bags are provided at no cost to the families or the hospitals. Corporate partners and donors support the Ready Bag program financially and often hand-pack Ready Bags— including a hand-written note of encouragement in every Ready Bag.
What is in a Ready Bag?
- A hand-written note: Written by the volunteer that packed it to let the family know they are not alone—there is a community that is here for them.
- A toiletries bag: When families are diagnosed, it’s very common for them to spend several days or even weeks in the hospital, and most children’s hospitals don’t have adult toiletries items. Ready Bags have personal care items so that families don’t have to be split up to go pack an overnight bag.
- A blanket: because hospital rooms can be chilly and a soft blanket always brings a little extra comfort.
- An insulated bag and a coffee thermos: for transporting food and bringing a little extra normalcy than a paper coffee cup from the hospital cafeteria
- An Amazon Fire tablet: frequently the kiddos’ favorite item. The tablet gives them a way to play in the hospital and offers a distraction while they are receiving chemo or recovering from a procedure
- A universal phone charger: Because the last thing a parent needs to worry about when their kiddo is in the hospital is a dead phone
- UNO Cards: We chose UNO to go in every Ready Bag because it gives the family a way to create memories together while they are in the hospital. Young kiddos all the way up to teenagers can play together.
- A journal and pen: Families have a lot of information given to them when they are suddenly diagnosed with pediatric cancer. The journal gives them a place to record all the information the doctors and Child Life team is providing as well as a place to express their emotions during their journey.
- A pill crusher: So parents can properly crush medication to add to foods for their kiddo.
- A pop-it toy: This acts as a great distraction tool for the kiddo during scary moments like IV sticks and blood draws.
Hear from some of our hospital partners
“We appreciate your support so much, these bags have been so well received by families, and staff are thrilled with them too.”
– Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital
“We are so appreciative of the Roc Solid Foundation bags that we can provide to families. I provided some education to our parent/patient advocacy council on the Ready Bags and they were so happy to have this resource available to our families!”
– C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital
“It sure is a pleasure to have Roc Solid as part of our partnership. I appreciate all your extra acts of kindness and your passion. You sure help keep us on our toes too and making sure we stay ready for these new families with Roc Solid Ready Bags ready to go. So many patients use the bags and stay ready with their Ready Bag in case whatever this journey may bring along.”
– Valley Children’s Healthcare
Which hospitals are you partnered with?
There are approximately 250 Children’s Hospitals in US and we are currently partnered with over 140 of them.
| AL | Children’s of Alabama |
| AL | Huntsville Hospital For Women & Children |
| AR | Arkansas Children’s |
| AZ | Banner Children’s Hospital – Thunderbird |
| AZ | Diamond Children’s Medical Center – Banner Children’s Hospital |
| AZ | Phoenix Children’s Hospital |
| CA | Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles |
| CA | Rady Children’s Hospital |
| CA | MemorialCare Miller Children’s |
| CA | CHOC Children’s Hospital |
| CA | Valley Children’s Health & Medical |
| CA | Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara |
| CA | UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital |
| CA | Rady Children’s Hospital of San Diego at California Protons Therapy Center |
| CA | UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center |
| CA | Kaiser Anaheim Medical Center |
| CA | Cottage Children’s Medical Center |
| CA | Kaiser Permanente Downey Medical Center |
| CA | USCF Benioff Children’s Hospitals |
| CO | Children’s Colorado – Main Hospital |
| CO | Children’s Colorado – Colorado Springs Campus |
| CT | Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital |
| CT | Connecticut Children’s Medical Center |
| CT | Park Avenue Medical Center – YNHCH Outpatient Center |
| DE | Nemours Children’s Hospital – Delaware |
| FL | Nemours Children’s Hospital |
| FL | Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children |
| FL | Miami Cancer Institute |
| FL | Wolfson Children’s |
| FL | Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital |
| FL | Nicklaus Children’s Hospital |
| FL | UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital |
| FL | Golisano Children’s Hospital |
| FL | alex’s place Pediatric Hematology |
| FL | Advent Health |
| FL | Salah Foundation Children’s Hospital-Broward Health |
| FL | St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital |
| FL | Ascension Sacred Heart |
| FL | Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital |
| FL | Palm Beach Children’s Hospital |
| FL | Holtz Children’s Hospital |
| GA | Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (Egleston) |
| GA | Beverly Knight Olson Children’s Hospital |
| GA | Augusta Children’s Hospital (Children’s Hospital of Georgia) |
| GA | Dwaine & Cynthia Willett Children’s Hospital of Savannah |
| HI | Tripler Army Medical Center |
| IA | University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital |
| IA | Blank Children’s Hospital |
| ID | St. Luke’s Children’s Cancer Institute |
| IL | Ann & Robert H Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago |
| IL | Comer Children’s Hospital |
| IL | OSF Children’s Hospital of Illinois |
| IL | Rush University Medical Center |
| IN | Beacon Children’s Hospital |
| IN | Riley Hospital for Children |
| IN | IU Health North Hospital (Satelitte to Riley Hospital) |
| IN | Parkview Health |
| IN | Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital |
| KS | Wesley Children’s Hospital |
| KY | Kentucky Children’s Hospital |
| KY | Norton Children’s Hospital |
| LA | Ochsner Hospital For Children |
| LA | Children’s Hospital New Orleans |
| MA | Baystate Medical Center |
| MA | Massachusetts General for Children |
| MA | Dana Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer & Blood Disorder Center |
| MD | Johns Hopkins Hospital Children’s Center |
| ME | The Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital |
| MI | C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital |
| MI | Children’s Hospital of Michigan |
| MI | Bronson Children’s Hospital |
| MN | Children’s Minnesota |
| MN | Fairview Masonic Children’s Hospital |
| MN | Mayo Clinic – Inpatient Mayo Clinic – Outpatient |
| MO | Mercy Clinic Children’s Cancer & Hematology (St. Louis) |
| MO | Mercy Children’s Hospital (Springfield) |
| MO | Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital |
| MT | Billings Clinic |
| NC | UNC Children’s Hospital |
| NC | Levine Children’s Hospital |
| NC | Brenner Children’s Hospital |
| NC | Duke Children’s Health Center |
| NC | Mission Children’s Hospital |
| NC | James & Connie Maynard |
| NC | UNC Hospitals Children’s Specialty Services at Raleigh |
| NC | Hemby Children’s Hospital |
| NE | Children’s Hospital & Medical Center |
| NE | Nebraska Medicine |
| NJ | Hackensack University Medical Center |
| NJ | Goryeb Children’s Hospital |
| NV | Children’s Medical Center at Summerlin Hospital |
| NY | Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital |
| NY | New York-Presbyterian Hospital |
| NY | Cohen Children’s Medical Center |
| NY | Galisano Children’s Hospital – Rochester |
| NY | Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital |
| NY | Cincinnati Children’s Hospital |
| OH | Cincinnati Children’s Hospital |
| OH | Cleveland Clinic |
| OH | Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital |
| OH | Nationwide Children’s Hospital |
| OH | ProMedica Russell J Ebeid Children’s Hospital |
| OH | Akron Children’s Hospital |
| OR | Doernbecher Children’s Hospital |
| OR | Randall Children’s Hospital |
| PA | CHOP |
| PA | UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh |
| PA | Janet Weis Children’s Hospital |
| PA | Penn State Health Children’s Hospital |
| PA | CHOP – King Of Prussia |
| PA | St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children |
| RI | Hasbro Children’s Hospital |
| SC | MUSC |
| SC | Prisma Health – Columbia |
| SC | Prisma Health – Greenville |
| TN | East Tennesee Children’s Hospital |
| TN | The Children’s Hospital at TriStar Centennial |
| TN | Children’s Hospital at Erlanger |
| TN | Niswonger Children’s Hospital |
| TN | Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt |
| TX | Children’s Hospital of San Antonio |
| TX | Covenant Children’s Hematology and Oncology Clinic |
| TX | Dell Children’s Hospital (Outpatient) |
| TX | Children’s Medical Center |
| TX | El Paso Children’s Hospital |
| TX | MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| TX | Dell Children’s Hospital (Inpatient) |
| TX | Cook Children’s Medical Center |
| TX | UTMB Health Children’s Hospital |
| UT | Primary Children’s Hospital |
| VA | Children’s National Hospital (DC) |
| VA | Kaiser Permanente (DC) |
| VA | Carilion Clinic |
| VA | Portsmouth Naval Clinic |
| VA | UVA Children’s Hospital |
| VA | CHKD |
| VA | Inova Schar Cancer Institute |
| VT | The University of Vermont Children’s Hospital |
| WA | Seattle Children’s Hospital |
| WI | Children’s Wisconsin |
| WI | Marshfield Children’s Hospital |
| WI | HSHS St. Vincent Children’s Hospital |
| WI | American Family Children’s Hospital |
| WI | Gundersen Health System |
| WV | WVU Children’s Hospital |
How can hospitals become partners at Roc Solid?
Reach out to us! If you are a social worker or child life specialist at a children’s hospital that is not currently partnered with us, send us an email at info@rocsolidfoundation and we will get connected.
If you want to sponsor and pack Ready Bags with your team or group, send us an email at info@rocsolidfoundation.org.
