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Volunteers hop to delivering Basket of Miracles to children battling illness

April 2, 2023

The Easter Bunny is getting a little help from Miracles for Kids with brightening the day for children with life-threatening illnesses.

The Irvine-based organization will deliver 316 Easter baskets and care packages to the children and their families through its Spring Basket of Miracles program.

More than 125 volunteers have been collecting donations and filling the baskets since the start of the year. Each basket contains candy and egg decorating kits, games and puzzles, and cleaning products and hygiene items for the family.

OC Sheriff Deputy Heather Drummond cracks up after 8-year-old Jayden Zarate pulls what appears to be a bottle of champagne from his Easter basket. It was non-alcoholic. Volunteers with Miracles for Kids, including sheriff deputies, delivered Easter baskets and boxes of food and household items to families with critically ill children in Orange on Saturday, April 1, 2023. Jayden is battling leukemia. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Manue Lopez helps organize items that will be delivered to 117 families of critically ill children around Orange County and bordering cities on Saturday, April 1, 2023. The Spring Basket of Miracles program is part of the nonprofit Miracles for Kids. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Gloria Godoy is all smiles on her eighth birthday after volunteers with the nonprofit Miracles for Kids, Spring Basket of Miracles program, delivered gifts, household items, and food to 117 families of critically ill children around Orange County and bordering cities on Saturday, April 1, 2023. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Marie Pineda has a case of shyness as volunteers with Miracles for Kids deliver Easter baskets and other items to families of critically ill children in Orange on Saturday, April 1, 2023. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Gloria Godoy, 8, plays with her Squishmallows pillow, a birthday gift from Miracles for Kids. Volunteers delivered Easter baskets and other items to families of critically ill in Orange on Saturday, April 1, 2023. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

OC Sheriff Deputy Pete Chavez shows Janae MoniceMiracle Dean, 4, where her sticker should go while he volunteers with Miracles for Kids in Orange on Saturday, April 1, 2023. The program helps families with critically ill children, like Janae, who has a heart condition. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Samantha Bambo, 7, and Sebastian Saul, 6, chat with Miracles for Kids volunteers who were delivering Easter baskets and other household items to families with critically ill children in Orange on Saturday, April 1, 2023. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

OC Sheriff Deputy Pete Chavez reveals his true identity to Gloria Godoy, 8, who didn’t recognize him with his sunglasses and without his uniform on Saturday, April 1, 2023. He was delivering Easter baskets as a volunteer with Miracles for Kids in Orange on Saturday, April 1, 2023. Godoy’s mother, Maria Godoy, is center. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Skylar Gray Smiley, 3, gets her picture taken by her dad, Slade Smiley, after making Easter baskets for critically sick children at the nonprofit, Miracles for Kids in Irvine on
Saturday, April 1, 2023. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Miracles of Kids co-founder and CEO Autumn Strier, started the nonprofit organization 19 years ago. She says she was on the receiving end of a charity as a kid, “so I understand the importance of community support during times of crisis. Strier helps families with critically sick children. “Having a critically ill child destroys your stability as a family, economically and emotionally,” she says on Saturday, April 1, 2023. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

OC Sheriff Deputy Heather Drummond fist bumps 6-year-old Sebastian Saul, while she was making delivers of food and Easter baskets with Miracles for Kids, Spring Basket of Miracles program on Saturday, April 1, 2023. The nonprofit organization helps families with critically sick children. Founder Autumn Strier, says, “Having a critically ill child destroys your stability as a family, economically and emotionally.” (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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“It’s important, especially during these uncertain economic times, to make sure that the low-income families that we serve are able to concentrate on their critically ill child and not have to worry about expenses,” said Autumn Strier, co-founder and CEO of Miracles for Kids.

Miracles for Kids also provides financial support, housing and access to counseling for families who are supporting an ill child. The nonprofit was founded in 2002.

More information can be found here.

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