Brightening Hospital Stays,
One iPad at a Time
Tech for Tiny Heroes: Spreading Joy in Every Stay!
At JJKares, we believe in the transformative power of technology to uplift and support. Established as a beacon of hope and a tribute to resilience, we aim to harness the joy of interactive education and entertainment to bring solace and normalcy to the brave young souls in children’s hospitals nationwide. Dive in to learn more about our story, our founder's inspiration, and how we're making a tangible impact, one gesture at a time. Join us in making every child's hospital stay a bit brighter.
Uplifting Spirits, Powering Play.
JJKares is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that delivers technology and other support to be used by patients at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics all over the United States, creating a distraction to reduce anxiety and provide normalcy bringing joy and diversion to young hospital patients facing acute medical care. Since most hospitals use iPads as a means of communication amongst patients, we felt that donating iPads would help brighten up patients’ day in the hospital as well as give them something fun to do with the various apps loaded on the devices. It has also been proven to help distract patients while in a long-term stay in the hospital. Interactive, education electrons and personally delivered them, to sick children in desperate need of a way to escape the fear, boredom, and isolation of their hospital beds.
Our Mission
JJKares was created to make an impact by supporting pediatric patients in the children’s hospital when they are the most vulnerable and their needs are the greatest. A stay at hospital can be anxious time for pediatric patients and their families. Wanting no one to feel alone, JJKare’s mission is to provide electronic devices and other support gifts to pediatric patients during their stay in the hospital so they can focus their efforts on getting well and returning to their families.
Entertainment plays an important role in our health and well-being by reducing stress in our daily lives. By providing pediatric patients with technology such as fully-customized, age-appropriate iPads, children have access to entertainment that allows for needed distraction, a sense of normalcy in otherwise scary and stressful. The goal is to provide an iPad for every appropriate patient room within a children’s hospital so that a child can begin playing the moment they enter their room.
Featured Donation
Featured Donation
Teddy seen here with Rob of St. Joseph’s Health with his donation of Apple iPads.
Edward (Teddy) Kiley Mendrzycki
Message from Our Founder
I decided to start this foundation because when our grandfather was in the hospital during the first weeks of the pandemic for health issues unrelated to COVID-19 and eventually passed away after a short illness, it was difficult to communicate with him. Out of that experience, I wanted to give back in his name, so we decided to establish a charity that would focus on some of the most vulnerable patients in the hospital – children and young adults just like myself. And to honor my grandfather and his memory, I decided to call it – JJKares after John Jack Kiley.
The JJKares was created to make an impact by supporting children and their families in the hospital when they need it the most. Wanting no one to feel alone, the plan was to donate electronic devices and other support gifts to children during their stay at the hospital so they could focus their efforts on getting well and returning to their families.