How Small Acts of Kindness Can Support Children Facing Cancer
Updated: 3 days ago
Jeremy Burleson is a motivational and keynote speaker with more than 30 years of leadership experience in transportation. Drawing on his journey of recovery and his Christian faith, he helps audiences build resilience, lead with purpose, and find hope through adversity.
When a child is facing cancer, people often want to help but struggle to know where to begin. As Burleson Cowboy Ministries prepares for an October visit to OK Kids Korral, our Treatment Buddies outreach offers a practical starting point: a comforting gift, encouragement, and everyday supplies for families away from home.
Treatment Buddies October outreach promotional artwork
What Treatment Buddies is
Treatment Buddies is an outreach of Burleson Cowboy Ministries, the ministry I founded to share faith, hope, and encouragement. We are preparing to bring stuffed animals and small Cowboy Bibles to children and families served by OK Kids Korral in Oklahoma City. The animals and Bibles are already secured. Our October effort also invites the community to help provide practical supplies.
The purpose is simple. I want a child to have something to hold and a family to know that someone cares enough to show up. Our Cowboy Bibles contain the New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs in the New International Version. Prayer and encouragement are part of what we hope to offer alongside those gifts.
According to The Toby Keith Foundation, OK Kids Korral provides a cost-free home for pediatric cancer patients receiving treatment in Oklahoma City. Its facilities for children and families include 12 private suites and four daytime rooms, along with spaces for cooking, laundry, play, and rest. Understanding that setting helps explain why ordinary household supplies matter alongside gifts for the children.
Why everyday help matters
A family staying away from home still needs clean clothes, meals, and a place to settle at the end of the day. Those ordinary needs continue while a child receives treatment. People who want to help can start there, without waiting until they have a large amount of money or a perfect plan.
The foundation’s donation wish list includes household essentials such as laundry detergent, hand soap, cleaning supplies, and paper towels. It also requests individually wrapped food items and explains that expired food cannot be accepted. Following those requests helps people give something the organization can actually use.
For our October outreach, the supplies we are seeking include laundry pods, paper towels, bottled water, individually wrapped snacks, coffee pods, cleaning supplies, hand soap, and dish soap. A church group might collect one item. A business might organize a supply drive. Someone with a small budget might add a needed product to their next shopping trip. Each is a manageable way to participate.
Start by listening to the people you want to help
The first useful question is often, “What do you need right now?” Asking gives the family or organization room to tell us what would help. It also keeps our enthusiasm from creating extra work for the people we hope to support.
In her Brainz article on deliberate kindness, Angela C. M. Cox describes the importance of understanding another person’s needs before acting. That principle belongs in every collection drive. Check which products are wanted, how they should be packaged, and when they can be received. For Treatment Buddies, contact me before arranging a collection or delivery so we can coordinate it.
Listening also matters when offering encouragement. Some people want conversation. Others need quiet or a little space. We can follow their lead, offer the help they welcome, and let them decide what to share about their lives. Caring for a family should leave them feeling respected.
How faith shapes my reason for showing up
In 2024, substance misuse nearly cost me my life. My faith is central to the way I understand my recovery and the purpose I now pursue through ministry and speaking. That history gives me a personal reason to care about people who are hurting while reminding me to listen carefully to experiences different from my own.
As an ordained minister, I want the love of Jesus to be visible in how I treat people. Sometimes that means sharing Scripture or praying with someone who welcomes it. Sometimes it means gathering soap and paper towels, making a phone call, or carrying a box. Treatment Buddies gives that conviction a practical place to go.
A stuffed animal cannot change a diagnosis, and I cannot promise a family how tomorrow will unfold. What I can offer is a gift chosen with care and a willingness to help with needs we can meet. My hope is that the children and their families feel remembered.
Give people a clear way to take part
People are more able to act when they understand the next step. If you organize a collection, choose a requested item, tell participants who it will support, and arrange the handoff with the organizer. Keep your commitment small enough to complete, then follow through.
This is a useful lesson for leaders as well. In her Brainz article about making a difference in the community, Tanisha Taylor connects leadership with service to others. A workplace, church, or group of friends can practice that by taking responsibility for one concrete need. Someone who cannot contribute financially can still share accurate information or help organize supplies.
For this outreach, sharing the Treatment Buddies flyer is one way to help us reach those people. Pass it to someone who might want to participate, explain that the visit is planned for October, and include my contact information. That gives the next person a clear path from interest to action.
Help us prepare for October
Burleson Cowboy Ministries is inviting financial support to purchase the supplies requested for our October outreach, along with donations of the needed items. You can support the Treatment Buddies outreach through Square, share our flyer, or contact me to coordinate a contribution. Financial support through this link goes to Burleson Cowboy Ministries for this outreach.
Reach me, Jeremy Burleson, here or at 469 584 1037. If you are unsure what to give, call or email, and we can identify a practical way for you to help.
Learn more about Burleson Cowboy Ministries and explore my keynote speaking and messages of faith and resilience. For speaking and booking inquiries, email here.
I call this love with boots on. For these children and their families, I want that love to arrive with something useful in its hands. Help us get ready for October by choosing one item to give, making a financial contribution, or sharing the invitation today.
Read more from Jeremy Burleson
Jeremy Burleson, Keynote & Motivational Speaker
Jeremy Burleson is a motivational and keynote speaker with over 30 years of transportation leadership experience. His journey of recovery and Christian faith shapes his messages on resilience, leadership, hope, and purpose. An ordained minister and founder of Burleson Cowboy Ministries, he encourages audiences to overcome adversity and move forward with conviction.
