Jon & Kate Plus 8 - Giving Back

Giving Back
Jon and Kate express their appreciation for having all their needs met by helping others who are not so fortunate during the holiday season.

~*~

It's time to give back...oh...this should be interesting.

It's the Christmas season but this year the Gosselins decided to give back to a cause that they believed in. Since all the kids are super healthy, Kate realized that there are a ton of kids out there in the world that are sick and need something extra this time of year. She also wants to teach the kids how it's better to give than receive. (Um...the kids are giving her all the money when she exploits them...does that count?)

So the family headed to Memphis, TN, stayed in the super swanky Peabody Hotel, and decided to donate to the St. Jude Research Hospital. While I definitely think this is a great cause, how come they didn't help the Hershey Medical Center or some other local hospital? One that the Gosselins benefited from before?

We got to see this little girl named Ellen, who was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Ellen's only about 4 years old but is such a trooper. Her parents are so supportive and Ellen is such a little warrior to get through this illness.

The first thing the Gosselins do in Memphis is to head to K-Mart where they will pick out presents for the kids staying at St. Jude's. Kate tells us that K-Mart is supportive of the hospital, but they also endorse Kate, so it's not a surprise that she chose this store.

The kids seem super excited to be in a store. It doesn't sound like they go into stores all the time. The family heads right towards the toy aisles and the kids started to pick toys. At first, the kids were super excited to pick out stuff and I don't think they really *got* that the toys were for the sick kids. Everything was going well until Alexis spotted Elmo and couldn't let go of him. She really really wanted Elmo and amazingly, Kate gave in and let her have him. Aww.

The family's former helper, Miss Beverly, now lives in Memphis and so Kate spent some time with Cara and Mady in the store to pick out some presents for their friends. It was nice to see Kate spend some time with the girls and let them pick out whatever they wanted for Miss Beverly, Mr. Terry, and their dog Smokey. The girls looked like they had a fun time picking out whatever they wanted and happy that Kate was with them.

Now that everyone's back at the hotel, the family heads down to the lobby. Twice a day, the Peabody has ducks come down the elevator and parade through the hotel. I've seen it and it's so cute. I love it! The kids seemed thrilled to see the ducks swim around and had a few water incidents.

And before things could get out of control, Miss Beverly showed up and the kids were thrilled to see an old family friend. It's so nice to see the kids be able to reconnect with an old friend...considering Beth and Aunt Jodi are out of their lives, it's nice to see them have fun with Miss Beverly.

Later that evening, all hell broke loose when the present wrapping began. Cara and Mady got to wrap some presents. kate didn't think they looked all that great, but it was awesome for them. Plus, the littler kids were able to help cut and tape. But the real action happened when kids were trying to play with the toys and some of the boxes got ripped. Yikes.

During this time, Beverly and Terry were sitting in the other room all by themselves. The kids were coming in and out and talking to them, but Jon and Kate just left them alone. Why would you do that? So strange.

It was finally bedtime and the reading of Desperaux. Now I have never seen Jon and Kate read books with the kids before bed, so I feel like this is such a product placement. Especially because each of the kids have their very own brand new Desperaux. So strange.

Finally we're heading to St. Jude to dispense the gifts. The hospital seemed super nice. All the walls were fun and there was lots of cheer there. The family first met with Lindsey, who gave them a tour. Lindsey is also a cancer survivor and wanted to give back to the hospital. What an awesome story.

Since the kids couldn't go hang out with the sick kids, they stayed with the child life person and learned about being sick. Each of them got dolls and all kinds of medical supplies so they could learn what happens there.

While the kids were playing, Jon and Kate headed to one of the floor to visit all the kids. But in order to let all the kids see each other, there was a camera and tv in both the hospital and the lobby. They kids seemed excted to see each other and the Gosselin kids got really excited when they saw Jon and Kate enter the screen. So adorable.

In the cancer ward, Kate gave the kids a copy of her book, a cd that she used to listen to, and the free Desperaux books that they received. Kate, in her usual way, told everyone that the cd that she was giving them is what she listened to when she was on bedrest for 10 weeks. And that since she was on bedrest, she understood what these people were going through. Somehow, I don't think that this is the same thing at all. And on a side note - can you imagine what Kate was like during her bedrest. Ugh. Poor nurses.

When the family went to leave the hospital, some of the sick kids got to come out and wave goodbye. So cute and nice. I'm glad that while the motive behind this show seems selfish (especially because Kate points out how they *aren't* doing it for the publicity), the kids and hospital benefited. Because I definitely think this is a super good cause.

SassySarah's Review: This was a decent episode and they gave back to people who truly needed it. One thumb up.