Holiday Smiles
Spreading Joy Every Season
The holidays should feel magical for every child — no matter where they are. BrittiCares brings the warmth, laughter, and love of the season straight to the children and families who need it most.
Our Programs
Holiday Programs
Through our Holiday Smiles programs, BrittiCares transforms hospital hallways and common spaces into places of celebration, color, and community. We believe that a diagnosis should never rob a child of the joy that every season brings — and we show up, every single year, to make sure it doesn't.
Annual Thanksgiving Event
Thanksgiving with My Family
Because no family should spend Thanksgiving alone.
Every year, BrittiCares hosts "Thanksgiving with My Family" — a full, heartfelt Thanksgiving celebration held at children's hospitals across the Los Angeles area. Hospital common spaces are transformed into beautifully decorated dining rooms, filled with the aromas of a home-cooked holiday meal, the sound of laughter, and the kind of warmth that reminds every person in that room that they are deeply loved.
BrittiCares provides a complete Thanksgiving dinner for every patient in the hospital that day, every family member by their side, and every member of the hospital staff who shows up to care for them. Each event feeds anywhere from 500 to 700 people — because in the BrittiCares family, no one gets left out.
Beyond the dinner, BrittiCares fills the event with hand-knitted hats and scarves lovingly made by our incredible volunteers, exciting raffle prizes, live entertainment, face painting, nail painting stations, and so much more.
Patients embrace the founders with tears streaming down their faces. Families whisper thank-yous that carry the weight of everything they have been through. Volunteers leave with full hearts and a renewed sense of purpose.
Thanksgiving was one of Brittiana's favorite holidays. This event was created in her honor — so that her love for family, togetherness, and celebration would live on in every patient she never got the chance to meet.
500–700
People Fed Each Year
100%
Volunteer Powered
What We Bring to Every Event
A Full Thanksgiving Dinner
From the turkey to the sides to the dessert — BrittiCares provides a complete, home-style Thanksgiving meal for every patient, family member, and hospital staff member in attendance.
Handmade Hats & Scarves
Each hat and scarf is hand-knitted by our extraordinary volunteers — made with care, color, and love, and given as a warm reminder to every patient that someone out there is thinking of them.
Raffle Prizes
Exciting raffle prizes bring a spark of anticipation and fun to the event, giving patients and families something to cheer about throughout the celebration.
Live Entertainment
Music, performances, and live entertainment fill the room with energy and joy — because laughter is medicine, and BrittiCares makes sure there is plenty of it.
Face & Nail Painting
Our face painting and nail painting stations give patients a chance to feel pampered, playful, and like themselves again — even if just for an afternoon.
Celebrity Volunteers
Over the years, BrittiCares has been joined by several celebrities who give their time to serve patients and stand alongside our volunteers.
More Than a Meal
What makes "Thanksgiving with My Family" so powerful is not just the food or the festivities — it is the moment a child steps out of their hospital room and into a space that feels, even for a few hours, completely normal. It is the parent who gets to watch their child laugh. It is the volunteer who came to give and leaves having received something they cannot quite put into words.
"They get out of their beds, they walk into that room, and they just light up. That's Britt. That's her making sure that happens"
— Jamie & Shirell Henderson, Founders of BrittiCares
Annual Christmas Event
Give Life for Christmas
Blood & Toy Drive
One pint of blood can save up to three lives. Imagine what 200 donors can do.
Every Christmas season, BrittiCares hosts the "Give Life for Christmas" Blood and Toy Drive — a powerful dual-purpose event that brings together two of the most meaningful gifts anyone can give: the gift of life, and the gift of joy.
BrittiCares sets a goal of at least 200 blood donors at each drive — and year after year, our community rises to meet it. Every pint of blood donated has the potential to save up to three lives.
Alongside the blood drive, BrittiCares collects toys to ensure that every child in the hospital wakes up on Christmas morning with something to unwrap — a small but powerful reminder that the world has not forgotten them.
BrittiCares also sponsors and hosts additional blood drives throughout the year at various locations across the community — because the need for blood never takes a holiday.
200+
Donors Per Drive
3
Lives Saved Per Pint
Year-Round
Community Blood Drives
Blood & Platelet Donation
Every pint saves up to three lives
Christmas Toy Collection
Because every child deserves a gift
Celebrity & Community Support
The "Give Life for Christmas" blood & toy drive and other programs have become a gathering point for some of Hollywood's brightest young stars, local musicians, and beloved community figures — all united by a shared belief in Britt's mission. These are people who show up, roll up their sleeves, and donate life-saving blood, volunteer or make donations to help support the cause.
Holiday Adopt-a-Family Program
Britti's Gifts of Love
Wrapping families in love when they need it most.
When a child is diagnosed with cancer, the entire family is pulled into a world of hospital visits, treatment schedules, medical bills, and emotional exhaustion. The holidays can instead feel like one more thing that is slipping away. Britt's Gifts of Love exists to change that.
Through this heartfelt adopt-a-family program, generous donors and corporate sponsors have the opportunity to "adopt" a family navigating the weight of childhood cancer treatment — to lift the burden from caregivers' shoulders during the holiday season.
Families of all sizes are carefully selected and matched with sponsors. Each family's story is gathered with care — household size, clothing needs, and the specific Christmas wishes of every family member are compiled into a personalized profile.
How It Works
Families Are Selected
BrittiCares identifies and selects families who are actively navigating childhood cancer treatment and facing hardship during the holiday season.
Profiles Are Compiled
Each family's household size, clothing needs, and personal Christmas wish lists are gathered — so every sponsor can give in a way that is specific and truly felt.
Sponsors Step In
Donors and corporate sponsors are matched with a family and given everything they need to fulfill their holiday wishes — from gifts and meals to essential household items.
Joy Is Delivered
Gifts, meals, and household essentials are delivered to each family — giving caregivers one less thing to worry about, and giving children a Christmas morning filled with love.
Every family deserves to feel seen this Christmas
How to Get Involved
There are several ways to wrap a family in love this holiday season. You can sponsor a family directly, fundraise on BrittiCares' behalf, or purchase items from a family's Amazon registry right through our website.
Sponsor a Family
Adopt a family directly and fulfill their holiday wish list — gifts, meals, clothing, and household essentials that make the season feel whole again.
Fundraise for the Program
Rally your friends, family, or coworkers around Britt's mission. Every dollar raised goes directly toward supporting families in the program.
Shop Their Amazon Registry
Purchase items directly from a family's Amazon wish list through the BrittiCares website — a simple, meaningful way to give exactly what a family needs.
Mother's Day Program
A Mother's Love
For the moms who never leave their child's side.
There is a particular kind of strength that lives inside the mother of a child with cancer. It is the strength that shows up at 3 a.m. when the fear is loudest. It is the hand that holds tight through every treatment, every procedure, every hard conversation. It is relentless, selfless, and breathtaking — and on Mother's Day, BrittiCares makes sure it does not go unnoticed.
Every Mother's Day, BrittiCares visits children's hospitals across the Los Angeles area to honor every mother who happens to be there that day — not at home, not at brunch, but right where she has chosen to be: by her child's side. Each mom is welcomed with complimentary hors d'oeuvres, desserts, coffee or tea, and a thoughtful gift bag and card created just for her.
This is not a grand production. It is something quieter and more personal than that. It is a moment carved out of an ordinary hospital day to say: we see you. We know what you are carrying. You are not invisible, and you are not alone. You are extraordinary — and today, we want you to feel it.
Brittiana's mother, Shirell, was by her side through every moment of her diagnosis, her treatment, and her final days. This program was born from that bond — and from the Hendersons' deep understanding of what it means to love a child through the unimaginable.
What Every Mom Receives
Complimentary Hors d'Oeuvres
A selection of beautifully prepared bites served with care — because every mom deserves to be treated, even in the middle of the hardest season of her life.
Coffee or Tea
A warm cup offered with warmth — a small gesture that says: sit for a moment, breathe, and let someone take care of you for a change.
Desserts
Sweet treats to mark the sweetness of the love these moms pour out every single day — because they deserve something delicious and joyful, even here.
A Thoughtful Gift Bag
Each mom receives a carefully curated gift bag filled with items chosen to make her feel appreciated, pampered, and seen — not as a caregiver, but as a person.
A Personal Card
A heartfelt card written to honor her strength, her love, and her resilience — words she can hold onto long after Mother's Day has passed.
For every mom who never left her child's side
"These moms don't leave. They are there every single day. The least we can do is make sure that on Mother's Day, someone shows up for them."
— Jamie & Shirell Henderson, Founders of BrittiCares
Be Part of the Mission
Whether you want to donate blood, drop off a toy, sponsor a family, honor a mom, volunteer your time, or simply share our story — every act of generosity brings us one step closer to the world Brittiana dreamed of.