Laura and Hailey Mathias
Mother and daughter Laura and Hailey Mathias began on the journey of creating care boxes for children in January of 2018. Both Laura and Hailey have both either experienced or witnessed childhood illness, and know how truly devastating and heartbreaking it can be for the child and the families involved. This is what motivates them and the Billo Box team to create the perfect, personalized gift box so that a smile can be delivered to the children and families that are going through challenging times.
When Hailey was only ten years old, one of her closest friends was diagnosed with Leukemia. She watched as a perfectly functioning, outgoing child had their life flipped upside down almost overnight. She would bring him presents to the hospital and later at home while he was going through his extremely strenuous treatments and, later, recovery. His parents would always tell Hailey and her parents what a difference those small visits made in his recovery, and how he cherished the items he was gifted.
At the age of six, this personal experience for Laura started with a diagnosis, followed by eighteen hospital stays the first year and continued through her junior year in high school. Her chronic illness changed the lives of her and her family in one seemingly normal day. Who would have known that one small symptom would have led to what they faced for the next eleven years? She still remembers the day the nurses at Good Samaritan Hospital gave her a Baby Beans doll that would become one of the most special gifts she would receive in her lifetime.