Marcus has been tremendously enjoying riding his Rifton trike! We are so grateful for the foundation's generosity. The trike is providing him with greater social opportunities to pedal with his friends, while improving his strength and endurance. Marcus loves the freedom it gives him to explore the outdoors! 


The Flaherty Family


Kolton is an amazing boy who has 1p36 deletion syndrome and Infantile Spasms (epilepsy). His little body and brain are working so hard to allow him to sit, stand and eventually walk. This swing is amazing! He can feel like a big boy, sitting and swinging in the sun and fresh air. His big sister loves helping by giving him a gently push. Thank you for this very special gift for our special boy. What a precious way to honor Billie. I believe she can hear Kolton's giggles and see his smiles too.

                        

​                            Jill, Kolton's Mom


Our family is overjoyed that Austin has received an adaptive tricycle. For the first time in his 4 years, Austin is able to pedal a tricycle all by himself. The look of sheer joy on his face is one that we will not soon forget. This tricycle not only allows him to exercise his legs and improve his balance, but it also helps to build his self-confidence and gives him the chance to join his family and friends for an afternoon bike ride. We are looking forward to many memorable rides with Austin!


​      Sarah

Maria

We appreciate the bicycle. She is very happy with the bicycle. Thank you very much. She is happy and the bicycle will help her.

Here's Nora working on her standing balance while playing with her Leap Frog Fridge Phonics Magnetic Letter set purchased using a grant from Billie McKenna's foundation. Nora was also blessed with a Leap Frog Fridge Jungle Animal Magnetic Set and a Fisher Price Roll-a-Rounds Swirling Surprise Gumball toy. These toys help to motivate her to develop her standing balance as she learns to walk. We are grateful to Billie McKenna's Foundation for providing Nora with these wonderful toys to enrich her therapy sessions and keep her working towards the goal of walking independently!

Erin


Tyler

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Family

Our little family would love to thank you for donating some awesome toys for our daughter from the kindness of your hearts! It is such a blessing to know that there is a foundation that truly signifies the importance of special toys for our special kiddos. My daughter has already fallen in love with the mirror toy! Once we get home from the hospital, she will be enjoying the rest of the wonderful toys! 

Thank you so very much and God bless!

Juliette has Cerebral Palsy, as well as cortical visual impairment. Thanks to Billie McKenna's Foundation, Juliette was able to get this adaptive switch to help her play some ipad apps. The fact that the switch is slanted really helps Juliette make eye contact more oftern Thank you so very much!Adaptive switch with lights and motion. This will improve visual tracking and allow Juliette to learn cause - effect.

                            Benny

                       Eli

VTech Activity Cube features five sides to explore and encourages imaginative play with music, light up buttons, and more. This toy promotes interaction and fine motor skill development. Billie achieved standing while playing with this toy.

I can't thank you enough for your donations from Billie McKenna's Foundation that you created on your daughters behalf. I had the honor of giving the package of toys to a baby in the NICU. The mom was so grateful and happy. Her baby has a genetic condition and has had major surgery. I do think this is the first sense of "normalcy" she has had in over a few weeks and that was from receiving the toys from your foundation. I just wanted to express my thanks and appreciation to you!


Physical Therapist in the NICU Department

Oball is a simple yet unique toy,  easy-to grasp design and tactile intrique. The Oball was Billie's first connection to a toy. Billie learned to reach, grasp, and ultimately roll with the help of this toy.

Cole

​Ava

We are so very grateful for the generous donation from the Billie McKenna's Foundation. Our son Tyler is now 5 years old and he is starting to gain some independent skills and he shows a real sense of pride as he is able to do more things on his own. We chose to spend the money on some arts and crafts with specially designed scissors and a specially designed bowl and plate set which allows him to feed himself without the food ending up on the floor. 

Tyler has significant language delays so we felt it was important to get a helpful language guide "It Takes Two To Talk" and this is a fun way to play and promote communication skills as well as spending quality time together. 

 With sincere thanks and in memory of sweet Billie. 

The Kruks

           

                   

Baby Einstein Under the Sea Play Gym is a colorful scenery of the sea on the play mate. Tummy time is enhanced by the animal peek-a-boo flaps and toys attached to loops. Billie acheived lifting her head while on her forearms  during tummy time.

                                             


When you have a special needs child you have so many overwhelming medical expenses...copays, deductibles, and all the other "out of pocket expenses." Toys are an extra, unaffordable expense. Special needs children, however, spend so much more time in each developmental stage, as it takes them much longer to reach each milestone. Toys are so necessary...to encourage and motivate them, as well as provide the tools for them to learn new skills. Ava just loves the new toys she got, and has made nice progress with different skills since using them. Thank you for honoring your daughter in such a generous way. We are overwhelmed and grateful.

 Thank you SO much!

Katherine 


We are so grateful for Billie McKenna's Foundation. Our daughter was born prematurely at 29 weeks and weighed only 2lbs 5oz. Because of her low birth weight and early arrival her physical development has been slow; subsequently, she receives weekly physical therapy treatments. With the toys from BMF we were able to replicate the physical therapy movements at home, and more effectively help Josephine progress towards meeting her physical development milestones. Josephine loves these toys and is eager to work on physical therapy movements with them. Watching the simple joy she has playing with these toys has been wonderful to witness.


Thank you again for these gifts

​Alyssa, Michael, and Josephine

Josephine

Thanks to the toy reimbursement coupon through the Billie McKenna's Foundation, we have purchased several specialty toys recommended to us by our sons physical therapist.  In the few short weeks since having these toys, Eli's development has been significant as we have been able to replicate the exact same exercises and play both at home and PT.  We know that these toys have been and will continue to be instrumental in Eli's positive progress.   

                       Thank you so much! 

                        Maya, Eli's Mom

We are so happy to have those toys. Lily gets excited and enjoys using them during  tummy time. These toys are bringing so much fun to my daughter. Thank you very much!

 

Special Kids with special toys

​​​                    Austin

Here is a picture of baby Gunner with all the toys Billie McKenna's Foundation has blessed him with. These toys have been a staple with Gunner's progress.


​We thank you so much!


​Baby Gunner and Mommy Alyssa

Gunner

Billie McKenna

Words cannot express our gratitude to the Billie McKenna’s Foundation for providing our son Benny with an iPad. It has allowed him the opportunity to better communicate with us when he can’t find his words.  He has not let his iPad go since we got it set up for him. As much as I wish I could, I don't think we can ever express how much we appreciate this and how thankful we truly are for your generosity and kindness. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. xoxo


                                            The Bowker Family

 

After receiving the toy coupon we were able to purchase an iPad and a communication app for my son. Billie McKenna's Foundation as provided a way to allow my son to express himself. It has made an immenseimprovement on his every aspect of his life. It has a wonderful experience to be able to finally know his needs, thoughts and feelings. The Billie McKenna's  Foundation is truly a miracle and we are miracle and we are forever grateful.                                               

The Gillot-Gantz

​We would like to thank Billie McKenna's Foundation for providing us with a generous donation so that we were able to purchase our son two chairs and two adaptive toys. We are very grateful for your foundation's generosity. Our son, Leonardo (22 months old) is enjoying and getting wonderful use out of his new toys and chairs, especially during his therapy sessions. Leonardo has been diagnosed with an extremely rare neurological condition, rhombencephalosynapsis, which affects his balance and coordination. In addition to this neurological condition, Leonardo was also born at 29 weeks premature and with Tetraology of Fallot.  He had a successful heart surgery when he was five months old.  Because of his health issues, he is experiencing delays and receives physical, occupational, and feeding therapies. Overall, Leonardo is making wonderful progress. However, we have faced some challenges along the way.  At times, Leonardo will lose motivation during his therapy sessions and we have seen that certain toys have been able to motivate him.  For example, his new cube chair flips over to a small table and he loves to push his cube chair while he is learning how to walk. This especially has brought great joy in our family because we were never sure if Leonardo would ever be able to walk.  Now, it seems like we can say it is just a matter of when he will walk instead of if he will walk.  He also learned the movements needed to sit in a chair, which shows great motor planning.  

Before Leonardo, We would never have thought that learning the movements to sit in a chair was a big deal. Now, we have learned that each word our son is able to say, each bite of food our son is able to swallow, and each step our son takes is a gift to be cherished.  Our eyes now are able to see the kindness and passion of so many individuals that touch Leonardo's life. He sees many of these faces during his numerous doctor visits and therapy sessions.  However, there are some individuals who work behind the scene, but nonetheless, also make a positive impact. Thank you again for all of your hard work and dedication to this amazing foundation.  It not only helps children, but it also shows parents that there are some pretty amazing angels out there and that we are not alone in our journey. 

 Thank you!
Domenick, Antonietta, & Leonardo