Altrusa MoCo Brings Joy to the Children’s Inn

Once again the Montgomery County Chapter of Altrusa International was invited to participate in the county-wide day of service activities on the Martin Luther King Holiday,   January 19, 2026. During that event, members of the public are invited to work with invited organizations in service to the community.  We had the community members participate on our Thoughtful Treasures project, where several times a year we bring hope and joy to the families at the National Institutes of Health’s Children’s Inn by delivering caps, cards and placemats.

The Children’s Inn is very special place that provides free residential services and a wide range of programs to children, teens, and young adults with rare and serious diseases and their families.  The entire family stays there while their loved one receives treatment, usually whose best hope for a diagnosis or treatment is an NIH clinical research study.  

These stays are not easy which is why Altrusa MoCo works to bring joy and laughter to these families.  The children’s treatments frequently involve hair loss, so we provide baseball caps, that have been colorfully and uniquely decorated.  We provide personally handwritten and decorated card, frequently with jokes, to the children and families’ individual “Thoughtful Treasures” mailboxes, as well as joke and game filled placemats.  

The steady flow of community members were guided as to what was appropriate to write by the some of the 10 members who participated. Other members operated a resource and membership table to answer questions about Altrusa and get contact information for further activities and potential membership.  The resource table also distributed books to young people attending the event (because literacy is always important!)

It was indeed a very productive day.  In all, with this assistance from the community, we decorated 109 caps, 74 cards and 61 placemats.  Delivery of items to the Children’s Inn was made on February 5.