Chapters
Run this at your school,
for a hospital near you.
Chapters take the same work — kits, fundraising, one hospital relationship — and apply it locally. Open to high school students anywhere.
What we provide
- The five-slot kit blueprint, three age tiers, and a landed budget per kit
- The never list, compiled from what major children's hospitals actually publish
- A hospital outreach email you can send as written, and who to send it to
- The Approval Sheet — the one page a child-life specialist signs in five minutes
- A named contact on our team, and a call when you're stuck
What we ask
Approval before purchase
No chapter buys inventory before a hospital contact has signed off on the specific items. A chapter that spends first usually cannot use what it bought.
No direct patient contact
Kits go to staff, never to a bedside. You will not request patient names, photographs or medical information — including for fundraising.
No medical advice, ever
Chapters educate. They do not diagnose, recommend, or present student volunteers as experts.
Start small and finish
Ten kits delivered flawlessly beats fifty promised. A completed first run is what earns the second one.
The Chapter Starter Handbook
Everything above, in one document — free to read before you apply. You don't need to be an approved chapter to download it.
- The launch roadmap: five steps, in the order that protects your funding
- Who to contact at a hospital, who never to contact, and the pitch template
- The care kit program — five slots, three age tiers, and the never list
- The Approval Sheet, and the five questions to ask on the same email
- Standards for anything you publish, plus chapter naming and logo use
PDF · 17 pages · Second edition, 2026. The kit restrictions in it are compiled from the published donation policies of five children's hospitals — your hospital's own rules always take precedence.
The roadmap
Five steps,
in this order.
The sequence isn't bureaucracy — it protects your funding and your hospital relationship. A chapter that buys two hundred dollars of inventory before approval usually cannot use it.
Establish your core team
Three roles, split across three people. A chapter where one person owns everything stalls the moment that person has a hard exam week.
Pitch a ten-kit pilot
Approach Child Life Services, Patient Experience or the Foundation office — never the emergency department or floor nurses, who cannot approve donations.
Secure item approval in writing
A list of exact products, not a description of categories. Confirm age ranges, infection-control rules and the prohibited-item list at the same time.
Fundraise and assemble
Around $155–200 for a ten-kit pilot. Sponsor-a-kit pages, or seed grants through NHS, Key Club or a community foundation.
Deliver safely
Hand kits to your staff contact at a scheduled drop-off. Then ask what they would change — that question is how a pilot becomes a standing partnership.
Who does what
Three roles is the
minimum viable chapter.
Split them across three people even if your chapter is small.
Chapter Director
The hospital relationship, the Approval Sheet, delivery scheduling, and final sign-off on anything public. Holds account credentials with one backup leader — never a single person.
Director of Finance
Fundraising pages, grant applications, purchasing and receipts. Confirms funds are actually in hand before any order is placed, and tracks the landed cost per kit.
Director of Outreach
Social content, articles and slide decks. Runs every published item through our sourcing standards and submits it for review before it goes out.
What "reliable" means to a hospital: answering email within two days, delivering exactly what was approved, arriving when you said you would, and never asking for a photo opportunity.
Apply
Chapter application
About five minutes. We read every application and reply either way — if you haven't heard from us in a week, email and chase us.
What the application asks
- Your name, email, grade and high school
- Your city and state, and the hospital you hope to serve
- Why you want to start a chapter
- Any prior leadership experience
About five minutes, and every question is required. You don't need a Google account to fill it in. We use what you send only to assess and support your chapter — we don't sell it or pass it on. See our privacy note.
Rather email? Write to us and we'll send the questions to you directly.