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November 23, 2020Capital Region BOCES Students Donate Hundreds of Hats to Pediatric Cancer Fighters
Nearly 300 hundred hats are being donated to children fighting various forms of cancer thanks to the generosity and civic-mindedness of Capital Region BOCES Career and Technical School students.
Students at the Center for Advanced Technology (CAT) at Mohonasen joined by students in the SkillsUSA organization on the Albany CTE Campus collected approximately 300 hats in recent weeks that are being donated to the Hatsgiving organization.
The new hats are in turn donated to children from newborn to adult ago who are going through chemotherapy.
CAT Nurse Jennifer Guy Brennan started the collection in recognition of the fight her own daughter, 17-year-old Jada, waged with leukemia on two separate occasions.
“Jada has been in remission for 10 years now thanks to the Albany Medical Center Pediatric Oncology team and I’m looking to give back!,” she said.
“My goal was to collect at least 100 hats our first year. Never did I think we would collect almost 300! I am overwhelmed with the amount of support I have received for this amazing cause!,” she said. “Something as simple as a warm hat reminds sick children that we are thinking of them. The smallest acts of kindness were what helped my daughter and I get through one of the scariest moments of our life,” Brennan added.
“Hatsgiving” was started by a North Colonie elementary student who is now almost 17 years old. The non-profit collected more than 6,400 hats last year, shipping them to 60 hospitals in 43 states and the nation’s capital for kids near and far undergoing chemotherapy.
