Support patients and families
You can support our patients through in-kind gifts of toys, supplies, activities or financial contributions. You can allow our staff to respond to specific needs by donating to the Foundation and allowing us to acquire the most helpful and needed items.
Ways to help directly
Financial contribution
By making a financial contribution or fundraising, you’ll help Children’s Minnesota staff purchase toys, books, crafts and games tailored to our patients’ needs based on age, diagnosis and hospital appropriateness.
Wish list
Our wish lists are filled with items of greatest need to help make for a more comfortable and enjoyable stay for our patients and families.
To purchase and deliver items directly to the hospital: Amazon wish list. *When purchasing, be sure when selecting the items (i.e. books) they are new*
To purchase and drop off items to the hospital on your own: View wish list
Purchasing items to donate
Children’s Minnesota is only able to accept new, unopened, unused items with tags because of allergen and immunity concerns. Staff members will distribute items as needed to patients and families throughout our hospitals and clinics. Groups are not able to hand out items to patients and families due to HIPAA privacy regulations and our infection prevention policies. All donated food items will be put into our food pantries or family lounges.
Items cannot include stickers, tags, branded bags or information that identifies past or present patients including first and last name, birth date/death date, photo or story.
Get answers to other frequently asked questions here.
Kit building
As families come to Children’s Minnesota, the length of stay can be uncertain. These kits can help make our patients and families more comfortable during their stays.
- All items are provided by your group.
- These kits are to be made off-site.
- Please package kits so they can be distributed to patients and families – we recommend using Ziplocs or clear bags with your company logo.
- Click here for kit options and needs
Host a drive
Get a group together to collect much-needed items for Children’s Minnesota. Set up a drop-off station at your business or home to accept new, unused items for our patients and families.
Drive Ideas:
- Art Kits and Supplies
- Books
- Clothing (pants, shirts, undergarments – please avoid seasonally themed items)
- All clothes must be brand new
- Needed clothing items
- Gift Cards ($5-20 increments)
- Target
- Amazon
- Five Below
- Starbucks
- Snacks
- Toys
Tie blankets
Children’s Minnesota accepts and distributes tie blankets. Fleece blankets are preferred as they are non-allergenic. Fun colors and patterns are always loved by our patients. We encourage groups to make blankets that are 1.5 yard x 1.5 yard or 2.5 yards x 1.5 yards.
No-sew throw blanket kits: Your Fleece Kits
Reading buddies
Get a group together to make reading buddies for our patients. Literacy resources, such as Reading Buddies, promote reading and are a much appreciated item for patients while they are in the hospital. These “buddies” allow kids to read aloud to someone to practice this critical skill.
Here are the materials you will need:
- No sew animal/plush reading buddy (The Zoo Factory)
- Polyfull stuffing material
- Level Reader Books – needed and approved books
Frequently asked questions
Your financial contributions to Children’s Minnesota make the greatest and most immediate impact on our patients and families. From providing excellent care and top-notch facilities, to continuing staff education and providing charity care, your dollars support the very programs and projects that make us Children’s Minnesota. Make your gift online today.
Children’s Minnesota Foundation
CBC-3-FOUN
5901 Lincoln Drive
Edina, MN 55436
Please note any specific fund designation or if you’re making the donation in honor of a loved one in the memo
Due to allergen and immunity concerns, all items must be new, unopened and unused item:
- Clothing Closet (all sizes of gender neutral adult and kids’ clothes, coats, underwear, shoes)
- Lego sets – Under $25 sets preferred
- Snacks – individual packs of nut-free cookies, teddy grahams, animal crackers, chocolate covered chewy granola bars
- Toiletries: travel sized shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion, toothbrushes, toothpaste deodorant, lip balm and razors
- Toys
Children’s Minnesota is unable to accept the following items
Out of concern for the safety, immunity and allergies of many of our patients, Children’s Minnesota is only able to accept new items with the tags still attached. We are unable to accept the following donations:
- Toys
- Used/previously played with items, toys, books, games or stuffed animals
- Latex toys, games and balloons
- Private collections of items, toys, books, games or stuffed animals that have never been played with but have been stored away
- Full-sized sports equipment (soccer, basketballs, nets, etc.), bikes, skateboards, scooters
- Toys that resemble weapons (swords, Nerf guns, water guns, violent action figures, etc.)
- Other Items
- Artwork
- Baby formula
- Baptismal or burial gowns
- Cards, messages or letters for patients and families
- Crib bumpers
- Crocheted or knitted items (i.e. hats/caps, clothing, blankets, afghans)
- Donated hair for wigs
- Flowers from weddings, funerals, or other outside events
- Handmade or sewn clothing
- Homemade food or treats (cookies, cupcakes, bars, etc.)
- Quilts
- Seasonal or holiday themed items and clothing
- Used medical equipment
- Yoga, Zumba or other exercise classes
Please complete the online form and mail in the donation.
Children’s Minnesota – Child and Family Services
c/o Family Resource Center
720 East 26th Street
Minneapolis, MN 55404
We’d be happy to receive them; we distribute them in our family and staff lounges. We also use the Thin Mint cookies with our Cancer and Blood Disorders paents. Some of our paents lose their sense of taste during treatments and we hear Thin Mints are one of the few things they are able to taste.
To donate, please let us know you are coming by scheduling your drop off.
Due to privacy and infection concerns, we do not offer one-time volunteer opportunities.
To learn about longer term volunteer opportunities visit our volunteer section: Clinic and hospital volunteers
Children’s Minnesota receives all their donor human milk from the Minnesota Milk Bank for Babies. Please reach out to them directly to be screened for milk donation. Once screening is complete there is a milk depot where you can drop off your milk at both the Mother Baby Center in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
The team at Children’s Minnesota has a due diligence process for the books we distribute to patients. Please mail a book to the following address along with your contact information so we can contact you if we can accept more books.
Children’s Minnesota – Child and Family Services
c/o Sharon Nelson
720 East 26th Street
Minneapolis, MN 55404
Children’s Minnesota Welcome Desk staff are ready to assist you in accepting your generous donation. Our (clinical) staff’s priority is to care for our patients; we cannot commit any other staff presence to accept donations or be in photos.
Dropping off items
Children’s Minnesota – Minneapolis
2525 Chicago Ave. S.
Minneapolis, MN 55404
612-813-6000
Children’s Minnesota – St. Paul
345 N Smith Ave.
St. Paul, MN 55102
651-220-6000
Donations can be dropped off at the Welcome Centers at the locations above on the first or second floors, during these times:
- Monday–Friday: 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
- Saturday–Sunday: 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Schedule your in-kind drop-off.
Look for the iPads at the Welcome Desk, complete the in-kind form on the iPad when you drop off your donation or complete the online form ahead of time. Parking in the visitor ramps is free for the first 20 minutes.
Holiday Joy Drop
The end of the year presents challenges as both hospitals are experiencing an RSV and flu surge on top of being the busiest time of year for in-kind donations. This event will allow donors to drop off their items in Minneapolis and St. Paul, take a photo and enjoy coffee or cocoa as they get into the holiday spirit.
Donated items will be used at the annual Holiday Toy Shop, a place within the hospital campuses for parents and guardians to “shop” for their kids at no cost. This gives families one less thing to worry about during the holiday season as they care for their child in the hospital and allows our Child Life team stay bedside with patients instead of sorting and organizing donations.
Drop-off dates
- Thursday, December 19: 1-5 p.m.
- Friday, December 20: 8 a.m.-12 p.m.
- Saturday, December 21: 8 a.m.-12 p.m.
Drop-off locations
St. Paul location
Children’s Minnesota – St. Paul
345 Smith Avenue North
St. Paul, MN 55102
Minneapolis location*
* Please note: the event will not be at the main hospital
Midtown Doctor’s Building
2545 Chicago Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55404
Have additional questions?
For information about supporting the mission of Children’s Minnesota by making a donation, please email [email protected] or call 952-992-5500.
Disclaimer: In-kind donations are directed to the Child and Family Services Program for equitable distribution to patients and families throughout Children’s Minnesota. If an in-kind gift is requested to be designated to a specific area of the hospital, please provide this detail in the space provided on the In-kind Donation Form. The Child Life Program will make its best effort to comply with the requested designation. Depending on many factors including, but not limited to, unit needs and the quality of the in-kind gift, Children’s Minnesota may not be able to meet the designation request for the in-kind donation and may, at its sole discretion, designate the in-kind donation to other areas of the hospital or provide the in-kind donation to other non-profit organization(s).
IP Disclaimer: The entire right, title, and interest throughout the world to all intellectual property, copyright, works, trademarks, and/or inventions and other materials or content, if any, that are conceived of, authored, created, prepared, procured, or generated, whether or not reduced to practice, for Children’s as the work product hereunder, either solely or jointly with others in connection with or as related to the performance hereunder are the sole and exclusive property of Children’s Minnesota and will be considered “works made for hire” under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, as amended, and shall be and hereby are vested and assigned to Children’s Minnesota and any and all documents prepared by Children’s Minnesota will be executed and agreement to do all other lawful acts as may be required by Children’s Minnesota to establish, document, and protect its rights as contemplated hereunder.
