ABILENE -- Cooper Holloway personifies the spirit of the season.
The Abilene youngster continues to help comfort children at medical facilities with his Cooper’s Care Cases. Cooper recently donated another 225 cases (draw-string bags) to Memorial Hospital in Abilene. They will be given to children who are patients in the emergency department, laboratory, radiology, inpatient unit, and Heartland Health Care Clinic.
Why is Cooper so dedicated to making the bags? In May of 2013, he was diagnosed with a Common Variable Immune Disease which makes it hard for his body to fight off illness. Cooper, however, is strong and draws part of his strength from helping and encouraging other children.
Once Cooper was diagnosed at approximately age 4, he had to start weekly plasma transfusions with T and B cells, according to information from Memorial Health Systems (MHS). Because of the nature of his disease, Cooper had to take a bag of his own toys and books with him to the hospital in Kansas City. One day while at the hospital, Cooper told his mother, Dawn, that he wished all children in the hospital had their own bag of things.
Thus, the idea for Cooper's Care Cases began.
Initally, he distributed the hand-made cloth drawstring bags to children in the Kansas City hospital in which he spent so much time. In 2015, he began making and donating bags to Abilene's Memorial Hospital to help local children as well.
Now Cooper has help from family and friends creating and filling the bags, which contain a notebook for writing and coloring, a storybook, small notepads, crayons, a pen, pencils, stickers, a note from Cooper that reads "stay strong like Cooper," and also included now is a small toy and book donated by McDonald's of Abilene.
Items are needed for Cooper to continue creating his cases. If you would be interested in donating items to Cooper's project, please contact Dawn at 785-787-0287.