Sponsor a Child with Shadow Buddies

When you sponsor a child through Shadow Buddies, you’re not just giving your financial support. At our children’s charity, we strive to create a world where children feel included and represented, no matter the condition of their health. We accomplish this mission through our various programs designed to provide hope during uncertain and life challenging times. Our mission is to enhance the lives of families in communities, all ethnic backgrounds, for people of all ages. Our Shadow Buddies help elevate the care of others and address the psycho-social needs for children and adults going through a crisis situation. Supporting the well-being of individuals who are newly diagnosed or going through treatment, gives them all the right tools to flourish and helps in their recovery process.

The Goal of Our Children’s Charity

Twenty-seven years ago, our goal was founded from a child’s simple statement: Mom, “I wish I had a friend that was just like me.” At Shadow Buddies, we see the significance and importance of fostering compassion and raising awareness of differences. With our line of 36 condition-specific Shadow Buddy dolls and unique programs, we strive to do just that. Since our beginning, we’ve distributed 2 million Shadow Buddies to 19 countries, all sent with the goal of providing comfort and support to ill children around the world. By providing a friend for ill children, as well as education, disability awareness, and medical treatments, we help emotionally support children and adults all over the world.

A Buddy Just Like Me

Whether we realized it or not, the toys we played with as a child played a significant role in our world and values. Our children’s charity recognizes how important it is for children to feel a sense of inclusion, which is why we’ve created a line of Buddies representing 36 different emotional and medical conditions. Each child who receives a Buddy doesn’t just receive a new toy to play with—they receive the opportunity to feel represented and embraced. We have Buddies representing the following conditions and more, with the opportunity to customize each buddy to create an even more unique friend for your child.

  • Cerebral Palsy/Pump

  • Cleft Lip/Palate

  • Diabetes

  • Down Syndrome

  • Heart Surgery

  • HIV/AIDS

  • Liver Transplant

  • Lung Transplant

  • Oncology

  • Orthopedic

  • Ostomy

  • Seizure

  • Vision

  • Tracheostomy

Visit our Meet the Buddies page to view our complete list of buddies!

How Sponsoring a Child can Help

In order to continue our mission to enhance the lives of children all over the world, the Shadow Buddies Foundation is continually raising funds, developing new programs, and building relationships between organizations and sponsors with complementary goals. Unlike one-time gifts, partnering with Shadow Buddies as a child sponsor will help you build a relationship with the cause you support. Once a child received a Buddy and bonds with their new friend, it’s theirs to keep for a lifetime.

One-Time Gift Opportunities

We appreciate each gift we receive in support of our mission, no matter the size! If you’re searching for opportunities to donate to our children’s charity, we have several other opportunities beyond child sponsorship.

Adopt a Buddy

Hospitals and children’s centers around the country rely on the gracious support of donors to receive Shadow Buddies to distribute to their little warriors. You can help us make a difference by adopting a Buddy, which will help provide comfort, joy, and hope to children in pediatric care.

Give a Donation

We also make it easy to donate by accepting a one-time, and/or monthly donations through our website. You can easily select your preferred one-time gift amount or set up a recurring contribution.

Join Our Kansas City Child Sponsorship Organization

Becoming a Shadow Buddies sponsor is fast, easy, and rewarding! To join our Kansas City charity, email us or call (913) 642-4646.

If you’d like to become a part of the Shadow Buddies family, please contact us online or give us a call at (913) 642-4646. You can take a look at our current sponsors and community partners here.