96five’s Heart of Christmas – Supporting Bravery Box

You can help make a difference in the lives of kids this Christmas through 96five’s annual Heart of Christmas drive, supporting the work of Bravery Box.

The Bravery Box has been a way to encourage and uplift kids undergoing cancer treatment, by offering a reward for bravery when faced with a painful or confronting procedure.

The charity was founded by Tanya Allen following her daughter Lara’s diagnosis with leukemia, and 800 days of chemotherapy treatment.  While Lara was undergoing treatment, Tanya noticed that there was a bravery box located in the Queensland Children’s Hospital that was stocked by hospital staff.

Often supplies would run low, so in 2017 Tanya and her husband David began a toy drive to ensure that the box would never run out of rewards to help when a child had been particularly brave during a painful procedure.

“Bravery Box gives the community a chance to support families who’ve had a childhood cancer diagnosis.” Tanya, Bravery Box Founder

Fast forward to 2022 and Bravery Box has expanded to not just supporting children, but also supporting the entire family.  They have seen firsthand that parents who feel supported, heard and hopeful are better able to help their child through cancer treatment.

How to get involved

You can get involved with 96five’s Heart of Christmas 2022 by helping to create a “Bravery Box” with a purchase of a toy or a gift card for a teenager.

The gift rewards are more meaningful than a prize for a ‘job well done’. This program helps children look forward to going to hospital by giving them an exciting non-medical focus to their day.

Because cancer patients are immunocompromised, Bravery Box ask that all toys are new and unwrapped, and they do try to avoid plush toys where possible.

For safety reasons it is also important that there are no button batteries in toy donations.

See left for some ideas and examples of suitable toys that are under $20 from retailers such as Big W, Kmart and Target. Art supplies,

Because the main cancer treatment centre for the entire state of Queensland is the Children’s Hospital in Brisbane, it is not uncommon for regional parents to hop onto a care flight to Brisbane with literally just the clothes on their backs.

Another way to support Bravery Box is through donations of toiletry and hygiene items for parents spending time in hospital with their children.

Here’s some ideas on what to purchase to help parents as they support their kids:

This year it’s your opportunity to not only encourage kids with cancer with a donation of toys, but to help their parents out with toiletry items that they are often in need of when arriving at the hospital.

If you can’t get to the shops or to our studios, you can still be involved this year with a donation to the work of Bravery Box.

You can drop off your donations to the 96five studios at 81 Mina Parade, Alderley between 9am and 3pm on weekdays until 19th December 2022.