Cheeriodicals Continues to Deliver Cheer to Hospitalized Children and Veterans

SANTA BARBARA, Calif., April 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Cheeriodicals today announced the delivery of more than 200 personalized cheer-up gifts to pediatric patients at Cottage Children's Medical Center and to Veteran patients at Santa Barbara Veterans Affairs Clinic. 

Cheeriodicals' gifts are made up of age-appropriate magazines and crafts, activity books, puzzles, and games for children to enjoy. The Cheeriodicals duffel bag for Veterans contains an embroidered blanket, travel tumbler, puzzle books, convenience items and magazines.

These most recent Cheeriodicals deliveries, made possible through a donation by The Hanover Insurance Group, were the first to occur during COVID-19 and were shipped directly to the hospitals for distribution to the children and Veterans. For the last eight years, more than 100,000 Cheeriodicals gifts have been assembled by large corporate teams in a team-building format, followed by personal delivery to hospital patients. With the constraints of COVID-19 social distancing in place, Cheeriodicals launched the new "Direct Ship Initiative" to allow corporate partners to continue to make a positive impact on patients without physically gathering their teams together for team building events.  

"We are humbled to work with The Hanover Insurance Group to deliver smiles to hospitalized children and Veterans in Santa Barbara during this challenging time for our country," said Gary Parisher, President of Cheeriodicals. "We held one of our signature team building activities with The Hanover in Boston in January, benefiting 200 hospitalized children in Massachusetts. The amazing impact of that event led their management team to request a similar event in Santa Barbara. When their leadership team had to cancel their Santa Barbara event due to COVID-19 concerns, they requested to proceed with their delivery of Cheeriodicals to the pediatric patients at Cottage Children's Medical Center and the Veteran patients at Santa Barbara VA Clinic. Their desire to still deliver cheer to these patients, even when their meeting was canceled, is an example of giving back that will set a high standard for us for years to come."

"The children and Veterans in these two facilities need our encouragement and support," said Paul J. Mueller, West zone executive at The Hanover. "We were thrilled to have the opportunity to work on this gift delivery with Cheeriodicals, and we hope this gesture will make the day a little brighter for the children and Veterans."

In this new Cheeriodicals delivery format, representatives from Cottage Children's Medical Center's child life program and the Santa Barbara VA Clinic's voluntary services team will distribute the Cheeriodicals gifts to their patients on behalf of The Hanover Insurance Group.

"We would like to thank The Hanover Insurance Group and Cheeriodicals for making such a substantial donation during this truly overwhelming time in our history," said Jaynie R. Wood, Certified Child Life Specialist, Cottage Children's Medical Center. "These packages will help patients in all areas within the Children's Services Department and are most certainly going to be a bright light in a time of so much challenge."

"On behalf of the Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System Santa Barbara, Voluntary Service would like to take this opportunity to thank The Hanover Insurance Group and Cheeriodicals for the benefit of our Veterans. Your generous donations in the midst of a national crisis couldn't have come at a better time when some may be feeling isolated or alone. Your thoughtfulness and concern for the Veterans who served their country reflect the best of America and service to the nation. Your contribution is greatly appreciated and will assist in enhancing the morale of the Veterans who seek treatment here during this most difficult time," commented Alexia Lunningham, Chief of Voluntary Services. 

About Cheeriodicals

Cheeriodicals is a national corporate team building company that conducts philanthropic events benefiting children's hospitals, Ronald McDonald Houses, Veterans Hospitals, the American Cancer Society and other charity groups. For more information about Cheeriodicals' new Direct Ship Initiative, visit our website, or follow Cheeriodicals on Facebook and Instagram. 

About The Hanover

The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. is the holding company for several property and casualty insurance companies, which together constitute one of the largest insurance businesses in the United States. The company provides exceptional insurance solutions through a select group of independent agents and brokers. Together with its agents, The Hanover offers standard and specialized insurance protection for small and mid-sized businesses, as well as for homes, automobiles, and other personal items. For more information, please visit hanover.com.

Media Contacts:
Mary Martha Parisher
General Counsel
205-677-2069
[email protected]

SOURCE Cheeriodicals