Hugs and Kisses Inc.

“HUGS AND KISSES”

In a moment of boredom last summer, my teenage daughter made a bracelet of loose buttons and leather string. At the same time across the country, her grandmother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Within 6 months, these seemingly unrelated events combined to create a movement known as Hugs and Kisses.

Charmed by the cuteness and whimsicality of the bracelets, I felt compelled to make more of them.  Feeling impelled by some inexplicable force, I decided to use the bracelet as a fundraiser.  My daughter and I began to collaborate and asked people to donate loose buttons – our only cost would the leather string.

The local chapter of the American Cancer Society encouraged our endeavor.  After a successful Relay for Life, we continued our efforts and are now an independent non-profit organization. Along the way we found a charity that discovered a void in charitable giving to cancer patients with life threatening financial need.  This has become our focus.  To minimize our costs, we have enlisted teenagers looking to perform community service and they’ve become a core component of our three-program charity whose goals are to give financial support to cancer patients who have desperate financial needs; to give financial support for similar organizations; and to provide scholarships for students who gain practical business experience operating this charity under the mentorship of community professionals.

We launched our campaign on January 29, 2009 at a local gym where I told our story.  Focused only on building an inventory of buttons, I simply asked patrons for donations of buttons to be deposited in a jar at the gym. People were so touched that they donated $350.  The American Cancer Society reports that one in three people is impacted by cancer.  Those affected are empathetic and want to give their support.

The desire was underscored when I met a woman whom I hadn’t seen for long while and learned that her mother had pancreatic cancer but had been cancer-free for two years.  Wanting to help, she offered to host a luncheon for bracelet production to build our inventory. It was an incredible day; twenty four women arrived armed with bags of buttons and set to work.  I could barely contain my emotions as I witnessed women I’ve never met before sharing my excitement and embracing the idea to BUTTON DOWN THE CURE (my mother’s suggested slogan) with HUGS AND KISSES (my sister’s inspiration).

My sister’s inspiration stemmed from the fact that she likes only four-holed buttons which she says she likes to sew on with a “Hug and a Kiss.”  The circular buttons and the crossed-stitches made the perfect symbols for hugs and kisses.

In the meantime my teenage daughter had been recruiting friends to help. Before long we had a team of 15 local teenagers, my younger children, and me. And while the teens earn community service hours, they are truly moved by this cause.  They have generated wide-spread enthusiasm for their project, inspiring two local high schools to run a button competition.  The winning classroom in each school collected over 12,000 buttons. The teens have enlisted the help of local businesses which support us by accepting donations and distributing our bracelets.

Even my 7-year-old daughter has contributed to our success.  Showing her bracelet to school friends, she explained that “we make these for cancer,” she said.

A teacher who overheard and asked: “What kind of cancer?”

My daughter replied, “The kind that kills you.”

This conversation led to $100 in donations from teachers and faculty and a school-wide button drive started by the Principal. The Principal also sent an introductory letter in all students’ take-home folders.

This groundswell of support has taken us far beyond anything that I could have imagined.  We now have teams in Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Missouri and requests for expansion in to more.  Most are of which are run by teenagers!

I get a call almost every day from someone who wants “Hugs and Kisses”, wants to help us, or wants our financial support.  People genuinely embrace and spread out story.  Business owners we’ve never spoken to have reached out to donate products or services to help our operation succeed.  Four  different companies found us – unsolicited – and combined have donated millions of buttons.

My mother’s illness inspired Hugs and Kisses, but it is her passing that impels me to continue.  So many people are where I was a year ago, in need of aid and comfort.  Hugs and Kisses hopes to cease their worries.

Hugs and Kisses,

Jean