Category Archives: JoyJars

Graduation Gift Ideas- JOYJARS!

Graduation Day is quickly approaching! Are you looking for a meaningful, inspirational gift for your grad? JOYJARS are a great way to send your loved one a special, meaningful gift of encouragement–stuffed with JOY and sent with LOVE. During her 10-month fight with two inoperable brain tumors, 12-year old Jessie Rees founded JOYJARS as a way to help encourage other kids fighting cancer to NEGU- Never Ever Give Up. She knew that cancer could make a child feel lonely and limited, and with her JOYJARS, Jessie was able to put smiles on thousands of little faces.

When you become an official member of the Jessie Rees Foundation’s JOY SQUAD, you receive a thank you gift of 6 colorful and bright Mini JOYJARS that can be stuffed with tons of JOY and LOVE and sent to special people in your life for encouragement, support, holidays or “just because” gifts. And while you are spreading JOY to your loved ones, you are also ensuring that 12 kids fighting cancer receive a JOYJAR from the Jessie Rees Foundation’s Joy Factory!

Here are some fun ideas for stuffing the perfect Graduation JOYJAR!

1- Stuff with his or her favorite candy or chocolates!

2- Bake cookies or brownies with love and package them together in your Graduation JOYJAR.

3- Stuff your Graduation JOYJAR with fun gift certificates, cards or envelopes.

4- If you have a super special gift that you are giving your grad, package it tightly in your Graduation JOYJAR with tissue paper and use it as special JOY FILLED gift packaging.

Become an official member of the Jessie Rees Foundation’s Joy Squad and start spreading JOY today!

Congratulations to the Class of 2013!

12-year old Jessie Rees courageously fought two inoperable brain tumors for 10 months. During her fight, she founded JoyJars as a way to help encourage other courageous kids fighting cancer to NEGU- Never Ever Give up and to let them know that they were supported and loved. JoyJars are plastic-filled jars filled to the rim with hospital-approved toys and are sent to children fighting cancer around the world. To-date, over 50,000 children have received Jessie’s JoyJars.

Currently, 46 children every day are told they have cancer. We lose a child to cancer every 4 hours. There are currently over 250,000 children fighting cancer around the world. All of these children need to be encouraged and to know that they are not alone. Will you join us in encouraging all children fighting cancer to NEGU- Never Ever Give Up?

Learn more about Jessie’s Joy Squad Here!

JoyJars Arrive in Tijuana, Mexico!

60 children in treatment at the General Hospital of Tijuana received a special boost of JOY this week as Jessie’s JOYJARS arrived and were delivered to each of their rooms! The delivery of Jessie’s JOYJARS coincidentally arrived on a special day in Mexico –Children’s Day or El Día Del Niño–a day to recognize, cherish and celebrate children!

Children at the General Hospital of Tijuana were all smiles as they opened their very own JOYJAR, filled with hospital approved, age-appropriate toys–stuffed with JOY and sent with LOVE from the Jessie Rees Foundation’s Joy Factory. To date, children in over 12 countries have received Jessie’s JOYJARS and message of NEGU- Never Ever Give Up. Over 50,000 children around the world are recipients of Jessie’s special gift.

Get Well Gift Ideas- JoyJars for Encouragement

Do you know someone who needs a special boost of joy, encouragement, love and support? JOYJARS are a great way to send your loved one or friend a special, meaningful gift of encouragement–stuffed with JOY and sent with LOVE. During her 10-month fight with two inoperable brain tumors, 12-year old Jessie Rees founded JOYJARS as a way to help encourage other kids fighting cancer to NEGU- Never Ever Give Up. She knew that cancer could make a child feel lonely and limited, and with her JOYJARS, Jessie was able to put smiles on thousands of little faces.

When you become an official member of the Jessie Rees Foundation’s JOY SQUAD, you receive 6 colorful and bright JOYJARS that can be stuffed with tons of JOY and LOVE and sent to special people in your life for encouragement, support, holidays or “just because” gifts. And while you are spreading JOY to your loved ones, you are also ensuring that 12 kids fighting cancer receive a JOYJAR from the Jessie Rees Foundation’s Joy Factory!

Here are some fun ways to stuff the perfect “Get Well” JOYJAR:

* Stuff your JOYJAR with your loved one’s favorite candies or chocolates.

* For a child, fill your “Get Well” JOYJAR with fun activities, games and toys.

*Send your “Get Well” JOYJAR with a bouquet of beautiful flowers as an extra boost of brightness and JOY.

The possibilities of spreading JOY are endless! Start sending your JOYJARS today!

Learn more about Jessie’s JoyJars in the video clip below!

Mother’s Day Gift Ideas-Encouragement For Cancer Fighters

Mother’s Day is around the corner! Are you looking for a special, meaningful gift for your amazing mom? How about a Mother’s Day JOYJAR for her and the gift of JOY for a child fighting cancer!

When you join the Jessie Rees Foundation’s Joy Squad, you receive 6 colorful, themed JoyJars that can be filled with items of your choice, stuffed with JOY and sent with love to 6 special people in your life! And while you are sending your 6 JOYFUL gifts, you are also donating 12 JOYJARS to 12 courageous kids fighting cancer. JOYJARS are sent from the Jessie Rees Foundation’s Joy Factory, stuffed to the rim with hospital-approved toys and games and a special note to NEGU- Never Ever Give Up.

Here are some fun ideas for stuffing the perfect Mother’s Day JOYJAR!

1- Stuff with her favorite candy or chocolates!

2- Bake cookies or brownies with love and package them together in your Mother’s Day JOYJAR.

3- Stuff your Mother’s Day JOYJAR with fun gift certificates for your mom’s JOYFUL MOMS DAY OUT!

4- If you have a super special gift that you are giving your mom, package it tightly in your Mother’s Day JOYJAR with tissue paper and use it as special JOY FILLED gift packaging.

5- Include your Mother’s Day JOYJAR with an amazing bouquet of her favorite flowers.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of our wonderful and amazing moms! We hope you have a very special JOY-FILLED DAY!

Learn more about Jessie’s Joy Squad Here!

10 Amazing Facts About Jessie’s JoyJars

JoyJars® were created by Jessica Joy Rees during her courageous 10 month fight with two brain tumors. Jessie used her JoyJars® to spread hope, joy and love to children fighting life altering medical illnesses. Here are some amazing facts about Jessie’s JoyJars.

1- Did you know that Jessie Rees founded JoyJars only three weeks into her own fight with cancer? JoyJars were a way for her to send a message of encouragement and love to the children at Children’s Hospital Orange County where she was also undergoing treatment.

2- Did you know when Jessie first started production of her JoyJars, she made them from brown paper bags which were hand written and designed with special, colorful messages of encouragement? Soon after, formal plastic JoyJars were created and designed to be stuffed with LOTS of JOY!

3- Did you know Jessie personally stuffed and sent over 3,000 JoyJars?

4- Did you know that special holiday and birthday JoyJars are now available for those extra special occasions? There could not be a better time to send a boost of joy to a child fighting cancer.

5- Did you know that, to-date, JoyJars have been sent to children in over 200 US Children’s hospitals in addition to hospitals in 15 countries?

6- Did you know that JoyJars are filled specific to a child’s gender and age?

7- Did you know that, to-date, over 50,000 kids fighting cancer have received one of Jessie’s JoyJars and message to NEGU, Never Ever Give Up?

8- Did you know that celebrities and professional athletes deliver JoyJars to children in hospitals?

9- Did you know that all of the amazing toys and activities used to fill JoyJars are donated by our wonderful sponsors and supporters?

10- Did you know that you have the opportunity to make a difference in the life of a child fighting cancer by helping us send JoyJars? Learn how you can help at http://joyjars.negu.org/

Watch Jessie’s JoyJars Video- 47,000 Boosts of Joy!

A Special Birthday Delivery For a Child Fighting Cancer- JoyJars!

For kids, a birthday is a celebration of accomplishments and growth and the anticipation for what’s the come with the new year. A birthday celebration for a child may be one of the highlights of his or her year. For kids fighting cancer, sometimes a birthday may be spent in doctors appointment or hospital treatments.

When Jessie Rees founded JoyJars during her own fight with cancer, she wanted to give other kids a chance to embrace the joy in life, despite the struggles they were facing with cancer. She knew that cancer could make a child feel lonely and limited. Her goal–to make them smile. The Jessie Rees Foundation strives to continue Jessie’s mission of making kids smile by spreading love, hope and joy to children fighting cancer. And since we know that birthday’s are important, we want to give kids fighting cancer something smile about on their very special day.

Parents with a child fighting cancer can request BIRTHDAY JOYJARS for their special birthday girl or birthday boy from the Jessie Rees Foundation’s Joy Factory! Our birthday JoyJars are filled to the top with age-appropriate toys and activities with some birthday flare as well.

Birthday JoyJars are shipped one week prior to the child’s birthday to ensure it arrives just in time for the special day! Does your courageous NEGU kid have a birthday coming up? Request a birthday JoyJar here

Send a Message of Hope and Joy to Children With Cancer

It is estimated that over 46 children will be told they have cancer each day–that is equivalent to the size of almost two elementary school classrooms. Cancer is the leading cause of disease-related deaths for children. An estimated 13,000 children will be diagnosed with cancer each year. More than 50,000 children are currently fighting cancer in hospitals and over 250,000 children are fighting cancer at home.

All of these children need support, they need to be encouraged, they need to know they are not alone and have a community of support behind them. When 12 year old Jessie Rees fought her own battle with cancer, she wanted to encourage other kids to fight hard too. A symbol of hope and love, Jessie’s JoyJars are sent to children fighting cancer at homes and in children’s hospitals around the world.

How can you support a child with cancer? Check out Jessie’s Story here–learn about her wish, her mission and how you can join the movement to encourage all kids fighting cancer to NEGU- Never Ever Give Up

Service Activities For Children- Collect Toys For a Joy Drive!

Service activities are a GREAT way to get your child involved in his or her community. Volunteering, fundraising, and service learning projects all help to teach responsibility, the benefits of sacrifice and the importance of giving–all while giving parents and kids a great opportunity to work together as a team on a goal. Kids love to know that they can make a difference in their community, especially when given ownership over their own projects and ideas.

The Jessie Rees Foundation offers a great way for kids to get involved, create, manage and host their own service projects, all while supporting an amazing cause–kids fighting cancer.

Joy Drives offer kids the opportunity to do a simple service activity while adding their own personal touch to their individual project. When a child, club, or group hosts a Joy Drive, they simply collect hospital approved toys to be used in JoyJars which are sent to children all over the world fighting cancer. Here are some tips on how to start your own Joy Drive to support kids with cancer.

Joy Drives are great opportunities for clubs, community teams, churches and corporations to collect toys for Joy Jars®. By following these seven steps you can have a Joy Drive of your own.

JOY DRIVE PLANNER!

STEP	DESCRIPTION
Purpose	What is the goal for your JoyDrive? Is your goal to collect toys, money or both?
Plan	Set a date, time and location for your JoyDrive
People	Arrange your own JoySquad (volunteers) to help you promote and execute your JoyDrive
Promote	Advertise your JoyDrive… Facebook, email, bulletins and announcements.
Pack	Send toys/money to: Jessie Rees Foundation: 22521 Avenida Empresa, Suite 112 Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688Donations can be made to the Jessie Rees Foundation. Please include contact information for a donation receipt.
Post	Share your pictures, stories and successes on Jessie’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/jessiereesfoundation.
Pass	Tell 10 other friends about the simple 7 steps to a successful JoyDrive

That’s it!!!

Please deliver all toys to:

Jessie Rees Foundation
22521 Avenida Empresa, Suite 112
Rancho Santa Margarita CA 92688

Inside the Joy Factory- Where Joy is Made For Kids Fighting Cancer

Over 50,000 of Jessie’s JoyJars have been sent to children fighting cancer in homes and hospitals all over the world! That is 50,000 children who have received Jessie’s message of encouragement, love and support–50,000 kids who now know that they have a community of support behind them–encouraging them to NEGU- Never Ever Give Up.

Have you ever wondered where all of this joy comes from–where over 50,000 of Jessie’s JoyJars have been stuffed, sealed and delivered to children’s hospitals nationwide? Welcome to the Jessie Rees Foundation’s Joy Factory–A Child’s Dream Come True!!

Wall-to-wall, bins are filled with toys and activities categorized by age and gender. All of these amazing hospital- approved toys are sent in from generous donors and supporters.

The Joy Factory is staffed full time with hard working Joy Coordinators (staff and volunteers) who work tirelessly at stuffing Jars, filling orders and coordinating events and club visits.

Daily individual orders can vary anywhere between 5-30, in addition to the continuous hospital Joy Pack (20 JoyJars) requests.

On certain days of the week, groups and clubs have the opportunity to come into the Joy Factory for JoyJar stuffing activities. Sports teams, businesses, groups, families and elementary school classes have all come to help out. We have even hosted a few Joy stuffing birthday parties!! On any given week, the Joy Factory can be visited by 10-15 groups!

Before you start stuffing– a few tips on how to stuff the BEST JoyJar and send it with love, (1) It must be full..we mean stuffed to the top rim! (2) only cool items allowed, no “cheesy” toys, (3) ship when ordered–Time is precious!

Are you interested in hosting a JoyJar stuffing event? be sure to call ahead, there is a wait list!

Do you want to help send JoyJars to kids fighting cancer? Join the Jessie Rees Foundation’s Joy Squad!

Children’s Hospital Colorado, Kids Are Surprised With Jars of Joy!

The kids currently in treatment at the Children’s Hospital Colorado woke up to a very special surprise last week—a delivery from the Jessie Rees Foundation’s Joy Factory! Kaitlin Sandeno and Karalynn Joyce, Olympic Swimmers, hand delivered over 100 of Jessie’s JoyJars to every child currently under care at the hospital. Another 200 were delivered to other children in treatment. As always, the kids were smiling from ear to ear as they opened their very own JoyJar–stuffed to the rim with age appropriate toys and games and a special note of encouragement from Jessie Rees, founder of the Jessie Rees Foundation.

During her own 10-month fight with cancer, a time when most people would be looking inward, 12 year old Jessie chose to focus her time and energy helping other kids in hospitals and kids fighting cancer. Jessie thought these kids could use boosts of joy and love. She was only three weeks into her own difficult treatment, when she asked a question to her parents, “How can we help them?” From this desire to help and to reach other kids, Jessie founded JoyJars- plastic jars filled with age-appropriate, hospital-approved toys, games, and activities, along with a special note and bracelet—with her personal motto and inspirational message to NEGU, Never Ever Give Up.

To-date, Jessie’s JoyJars have been delivered to over 200 children’s hospitals around the world. Over 50,000 children fighting cancer have received a gift of Joy from Jessie’s Foundation.

Would you like to help send a boost of encouragement to children fighting cancer? Consider joining Jessie’s JoySquad!

JOY DRIVE PLANNER!

Please deliver all toys to:

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