Each year, our team spreads a small dose of joy by packaging and delivering Bags of Hope to patients facing hospitalization over the holidays.
For the fourth year, we received funding support for Bags of Hope from the Do Gooders and a little help from our friends to expand our reach. We’re so grateful!
With a Little Help, Our Tradition Goes National
In 2025, our annual tradition flourished with help from staff, local organizations, and friends of Help Hope Live, plus Ambassadors across the country.
For the first time, Bags of Hope reached 7 different states!
Participating clients and Ambassadors this year included Linda Jara, Josh Basile, Esq., Stephan and Katrina Golden, Judah Pulley, Liz Casperite, Patricia King, Stephanie and Kelson Williams, Melissa Tuff, and Joanna McCray.
This season, we delivered local Bags of Hope to Jefferson Moss-Magee Rehabilitation Hospital, Penn Medicine, Bryn Mawr Rehab, Temple Health, Lehigh Valley Health Network, Jefferson Einstein, and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Our bag-packing elves for 2025 included Prelude Solutions and the Penn Men’s Lacrosse Team, both returning for another Bags of Hope season.
Assistant coach and defensive coordinator Casey Ikeda, who is now a Help Hope Live Board Member himself, was first inspired to lead the effort with his team in 2024 in memory of his dad, the late Help Hope Live Board Member Bruce Ikeda.
As Brooke Schostak, our Director of Development, observed, sometimes the impact of these annual traditions can go even further than we realize: one of the participating players mentioned that a family member had been diagnosed with late-stage cancer and wondered if Help Hope Live may be able to help.
“The fact that this team heard what we do and connected so personally to our mission was so meaningful to see. It’s a lot of ripples—it’s really incredible.”
Returning local joy-deliverers included Julie Hensler-Cullen, the Director of Quality & Education at MossRehab; heart failure/transplant social worker Deb Gordon, MSW, LSCW, at Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania; Jefferson Moss-Magee’s Senior VP of Development and former Help Hope Live Board Chair, Ron Siggs, and our newest Board Member, Community Program Coordinator, Keith Newerla; and last but not least—our Brand Champion, Barrett Brooks, co-host of NBC Sports Philly’s Birds Huddle.
Deb Gordon conveyed her heartfelt thanks to everyone involved in bringing these bags of cheer to patients each year:
“The blankets, games, warm socks, and Starbucks gift cards are truly appreciated and bring comfort and a sense of care to the families we serve during a challenging time.”
The Bags of Hope Story
The inspiration for Bags of Hope came in 2011 when our now Executive Director Kelly L Green’s mother was hospitalized, isolated, and recovering from a broken neck on Christmas Day.
She received a small gift filled with thoughtfulness and love. That simple act of kindness brought her unexpected joy during an unimaginably difficult time and planted the seed for what would become our annual Bags of Hope tradition.
In 2018, we launched Bags of Hope to carry forward that spirit of compassion.
Each bag is filled with simple necessities, fun toys, an encouraging card, and information about Help Hope Live—small but meaningful gestures that remind patients they are not alone.
Thank You!
We hope that our trusted medical fundraising support makes it possible for communities to spread hope in their own ways year-round for families facing a medical crisis.
Thanks to do-gooders close to home and across the country, our annual Bags of Hope tradition has become an extension of that mission and a way for our team to personally connect with our community.
Thank you for fueling another year of hope and impact through your support of our mission!
Why not plan your own Bags of Hope gesture of goodwill for 2026? Email our Director of Development Brooke Schostak at [email protected].
Make a donation to Help Hope Live to ensure our mission and all its expressions of hope keep rolling year after year.
