The official Jordan's Jungle Blog

Fundraiser on May 10

Adam Tarr — Mon, 03 May 2010 00:13:00 GMT

Hi,

We hope you will be able to join us for a fundraising event at Tasti D-Lite in Scottsdale on Monday, May 10 from 4-9 PM. What can be better than a cool delicious treat than knowing it will also help bring smiles to hospitalized children's faces?! Open the Fundraising flyer link and print it out to bring with you so that we get credit for the sale. If you aren't familiar with Tasti D-Lite, we have included info on them as well.
We hope to see you there! Please pass this on to everyone you know!

Thanks,
Jordan and Adam

Fundraising Flyer

Info on Tasti D-Lite

Jordan is honored by MIX 96.9 and TruWest

Adam Tarr — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 19:04:00 GMT

Today Jordan was honored as the TruWest Teen Who Makes a Difference for April 2010. he was invited to the studios of MIX 96.9 where he was awarded a plaque, a donation to Jordan's Jungle and a gift for him. Check out this page on the MIX 96.9 we site
While there he was even on Good Morning Arizona for about 30 seconds as they were doing a segment with Matthew Blades. Jordan doesn't do this for the recognition, but the recognittion helps the charity. You Rock Jordan! We are trying to figure out how to get the video from 3TV. We'll post it if we can.

Banner Thunderbird Visit

Adam Tarr — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 03:56:00 GMT

Hi,

Today we dropped of approximately 750 friends to Banner Thunderbird Medical Center. These were distributed to the Peds unit, the PICU and the Peds ER. This is a really a drop in the bucket since the ER can see anywhere from 30-70 kids a day. So, you can see the need for us to grow. Often, their toy closet is bare. Let's keep it stocked! Thanks to Annie for the tour, Joy and Desiree for making us feel so welcome.

Jordan and Adam

Jordan's Jungle works on corporate donations

Adam Tarr — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 20:25:00 GMT

Hi,

Although donations have slowed, as they have everywhere, we would like to say a special thanks for recent donations from many agents at Citywide Real Estate, Temple Chai's Mitzvah Mall and Affiliated Pediatric Dentristry and Orthodontics. We are now visiting businesses in person to solicit additional funds. This week we provided over 500 stuffed animal friends to Maricopa Medical Center and will also be stopping by Banner Thunderbird Hospital. These and many other hospitals can easily go through 2000 stuffed animals a month. Multiply that by the many hospitals throughout the Valley of the Sun and you can see how much more we need to grow. Please help in any way you can!

Thanks,
Adam Tarr and Jordan Tarr

Desert Trails Collection Drive off to a good start

Adam Tarr — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 18:08:00 GMT

HI,

The Desert Trails Elementary School Collection Drive for Jordan's Jungle is off to a good start. Although notice went out a little later than planned, the kids have stepped up fast. So far Mrs. Hartman's 4th grade class is in the lead , with Mrs. McMath's 3rd grade class in 2nd place and Mrs. Cook's 1st grade class 3rd. We have already collected 90 stuffed animals and $60.

Just a reminder as well, all the animals MUST BE NEW AND UNUSED! Just think, if your child was in the hospital, would you want he or she to be given an animal if stains or pet fur on it. Plus it's the hospital regulations.
If you are thinking of buying any animals to donate, please consider giving us the money directly instead. We can make each dollar go further. Don't forget, we are a 501 (c) (3) non profit corporation.

Thanks for helping!

Jordan Tarr, Founder
Adam Tarr President

Desert Trails Elementary - Jordan's Jungle Collection Drive

Adam Tarr — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:17:00 GMT

It is time once again for the collection drive at Desert Trails Elementary. The drive is being held from February 25 through March 4, 2008. There are collection boxes in each classroom. Last year the kids donated more than 400 animals to help the cause. Hopefully we can beat that this year. If you would like to help, but don't have an animal to donate, please feel free to donate cash. You don't have to go out and buy one. We can make the money go farther. Each dollar donated will go towards the classroom count. PLEASE DON'T FORGET THAT HOSPITAL REGULATIONS REQUIRE NEW UNUSED ANIMALS (preferably with tags). They are going to sick children after all. Thanks for your help!

Thank you

Adam Tarr — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 21:27:00 GMT

We would like to thank Girl Scout Troop #1853 for holding a collection drive for stuffed animals and providing them to us at Jordan's Jungle. These fine young ladies should be proud of their contribution and feel good that they have helped to bring smiles to many other kids! Thanks again - GREAT JOB!

Jordan and Adam
Jordan's Jungle
www.JordansJungle.org

The word is getting out!

Adam Tarr — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 17:11:00 GMT

Hello,

We're getting close to Thanksgiving and Jordan's Jungle has a lot to be thankful for. Over the past few weeks, we have participated in a few vendor fairs. These fairs were held to benefit local preschools and community groups, and we are happy to help. Even better for us is that we have been able to raise more money for our charity. In fact we have raised enough to buy more than 600 more animals. We will continue to look for more opportunities to raise funds to bring smiles to hospitalized children. Just as important as raising the money, we have been raising awareness of our cause. It is warming to know that so many people care. We have received a lot of comments on the good work, and also quite a few people have offered suggestions and contact information to help us continue to spread the word.

Thank you to everyone who has helped.

Jordan Tarr
Adam Tarr
Jordan's Jungle Inc.
info@jordansjungle.org

More upcoming events

Adam Tarr — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 23:56:00 GMT

We had a fairly successful time at the VOSJCC Vendor fair this past Monday. We were able to raise over $100 and collect over 50 stuffed friend donations. We will be participating in the Har Zion Congregation Fall Festival and Marketplace this coming Sunday, November 11 as well. We hope that we can match this past week's efforts. if you are aware of any fairs at synagogues, churches or any other type, please let us know. We want to keep getting the word out about Jordan's Jungle.

We are also very excited to be invited to participate in another special event coming up on Sunday Nov. 18. There will be a book signing by the author of Alfie's Bark Mitzvah to be held at Young Chef's Academy in the business park by West World in Scottsdale. A percentage of the proceeds from the sales of books will go to the Petco Foundation. We have been invited to have a table to gather donations for Jordan's Jungle as well. We will have plenty of stuffed friends available for donation and purchase - ALL DOGS OF COURSE!! For more info see the press release for this event on the Upcoming events page.

Jordan's Jungle at the VOSJCC Vendor Fair

Adam Tarr — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 21:10:00 GMT

Hi,

We will participating in the Fall 2007 Vendor Fair and the Valley of the Sun JCC in Scottsdale. This fair will be held on Monday November 5, from 9-3. It features many vendors selling items that are popular with families and kids. We will be selling stuffed animals of course. You might wonder why we would be selling stuffed animals when we're supposed to be donating them. Simple! We can raise more money and buy more items to donate. Also, we hope that many purchasers will turn around and donate the animals right back to us for distribution to the kids in the hospitals. So, come on by and help us out!

Jordan and Adam

Where do the donations go?

Adam Tarr — Tue, 15 May 2007 21:17:00 GMT

HI,

We have wrapped up the collection drive at the VOSJCC. We were able to collect almost 100 friends for the patients. We do not have any collection drives scheduled for the summer at this point, but hope to get things moving during the summer. Remember, you don't have to wait for a collection drive to make a difference. Send your monetary donations at any time. We can most likely stretch the dollars further than you can when buying the friends.

Our hope is that we can eventually concentrate all our efforts on fundraising versus collection drives. They are time consuming, and unfortunately result in many less than desirable donations. We have mentioned before that all donations must be new and unused due to hospital regulations. As you might imagine, despite this, we get all kinds of stuff. Some items just need to be thrown out. In many cases, we get gently used items that still can't be provided to the hospitals.

Today we donated over 150 stuffed animals to the Watkins Overflow Shelter in South Phoenix. Although we couldn't donate these items to the hospital, they were still in good condition, and we don't think a good friend should go to waste. We know they will be well loved.

"6th Grader has the stuff to help sick children"

Adam Tarr — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 15:38:00 GMT

Hi,

In our last blog post we mentioned that Jordan was interviewed for an article in the Arizona Republic. The article was actually on the front page of the NE community section. Well, technically, he had a great picture and a teaser smack dab in the center of the front page, and the article was on page 7. Once again, we point out that Jordan isn't doing this for the attention, he is doing it to help. I love it for the attention. The more the public knows about Jordan's Jungle, the better the chances are for continuing donations. Way to go Jordan. The text of the article is below. If you wish to view it on AZCentral.com, click the following link - http://www.azcentral.com/php-bin/clicktrack/email.php/6739513

Thank you for checking out our site and blog. If you have donated, be assured that you have put smiles on childrens faces. If you haven't donated yet, we serious hope that you will see the good in this.

Have a great weekend!

6th-grader has the stuff to help sick children

Asks classmates to donate new stuffed animals

Stephanie Armenta
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 6, 2007 12:00 AM

Bringing smiles to hospitalized children's faces is Jordan Tarr's motivation to keep asking his fellow classmates and the public for new stuffed animals.

Desert Trails Elementary School sixth-grader Jordan believes kids are sick not only during the holidays and should be remembered all year long.

He and his school classmates collected more than 400 stuffed animals. Jordan and his father donated most of them to Scottsdale Healthcare and a few to other hospitals.

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"Seeing kids pick up a stuffed animal and knowing that I put a smile on their face feels good," Jordan said.

He went to his principal, let her know what he was planning to do and asked for permission to continue his project at school.

"Jordan's heart goes out to these children, to whom he feels get forgotten when the holidays are gone," said Kris Lee, principal at Desert Trails Elementary.

The soft-spoken Jordan was inspired to help others after he participated in an after-school event helping underprivileged kids. He wanted to do more but was too young for other volunteer groups.

So with help from his parents, he came up with the idea to deliver stuffed animals to children in hospitals around the Valley.

His father, Adam Tarr, strongly believed in his son's goodwill idea and turned it into a non-profit organization called Jordan's Jungle. If anything, Adam hopes to inspire other kids to help out in their community.

"If they can't get up to play, they will always have their own special friend to hold in the hospital bed," said Jordan, adding that it is important to have a special stuffed animal within reach when parents or nurses are not around.

"I have had patients call me up after discharge and tell me about how much it meant to them to have a visitor like Jordan while they were sick," said Shannon Hicks, child life coordinator for Scottsdale Healthcare. "They often ask me if they can come back and do the same once they are well."

Jordan is counting on more donations so he can reach other hospitals and put more smiles on kid's faces.

More press for Jordan's Jungle

Adam Tarr — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 01:13:00 GMT

HI,

It's great to see that good things are worth reporting about. Jordan's Jungle has gotten some attention because of it's recent collection drives. Jordan has been recognized by MIX 96.9 as mentioned proeviously, and now Jordan has been featured in the Jewish News as it's featured "Mitzvah Kid" this week. See the article HERE.

Jordan was also interviewed by the Arizona Republic for an upcoming article. It should publish this Friday, April 6. We love the attention and hope it brings awareness of our cause to many people.

Have a great week!

Adam and Jordan

Upcoming collection drive at VOSJCC

Adam Tarr — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 21:48:00 GMT

We have finally firmed up plans for a donation drive at the Valley of the Sun JCC (VOSJCC). We will start collecting on April 19 and it will run through May 10. Last year we had the assistance of the Kid's Club at the JCC, and will again this year. The Kid's club is an after school program, and last year the students help us sort and prepare all the donations we collected.

This year we will start out with a meeting with the kids to let them know what we are doing. We look forward to their assistance, and hope that we will plant the seed for someone else to do something great for the community. There will be a collection box in the JCC lobby and in the preschool for the preschool families to donate. As always, we are happy to receive monetary donations instead. We can stretch the money further than actual friend (stuffed animal) donations.

We look forward to the community support!

Mix 96.9 Kid of the Week

Adam Tarr — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 21:39:00 GMT

Hi,

Jordan had a great surprise at school yesterday. He was nominated for the MIX 96.9 Kid of the week, and was chosen for that honor by the radio station. Mix 96.9 is a local Phoenix area pop radio station, and along with Rio Salado College sponsor the Kid of the Week program. Each week they highlight one child who makes a difference in the community. MIX 96.9 morning personality Gina Taylor showed up to surprise Jordan and let him know he was being honored. His week will be the week of April 2nd, which also happens to be his birthday. There will be an announcement on the radio in the morning and his picture will be on the radio station's website all week at www.mix969.com.

Jordan doesn't do what he is doing for the accolades. It's all about helping others, in this case pediatric patients. But things like this also help to promote the cause. Great job Jordan.

Ongoing Drives

Adam Tarr — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 02:27:00 GMT

Hi,

Sorry, we haven't posted anything lately. As mentioned previously, we had a great collection drive at Desert Trails Elementary school. We took the collections over to Scottsdale HealthCare Shea today. Jordan as before, was able to walk the ward to provide some of these smile givers personally. Patients ranged from infants to teenagers. Yes even the teenagers really appreciate the gesture. The parents of the little ones really appreciate it as well, as they realize there are caring people out there as well.

We were able to donate enough to allow the outpatient center to receive some as well as the pediatric ward. We are told they are going to ship some to the Osborn location too!

We are currently running a collection drive at Temple Chai in Phoenix. Last year we were able to get some great donations from them, and we hope this year will be just as good!

Don't forget to pass on the word about JordansJungle.org to others!

Thanks,

Jordan and Adam

Thanks for the generous donations

Adam Tarr — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 00:25:00 GMT

We have mentioned before that we will point out donors that either provide generous donations or are donating from outside the area, or both, as in the case of the following:

Helene and Jeff from Dallas TX, and Tami and Rick from NY, NY. Your thoughts and donations are greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks from the Jungle!

Desert Trails Drive

Adam Tarr — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 00:17:00 GMT

We have ended our donation drive through Desert Trails Elementary School. Our final tally is 338 individual items and $94. Although Mrs. Worsham's Kindergarten class led most of the week, Mrs. McMath's 3rd grade class came on strong at the last minute to pull out the victory. What matters most is that almost every class provided some donations. It is great to see that these kids realize how important it is to help others. Let's hope that some of them are spurred on to further action, and they can start something on their own like Jordan did.

Desert Trails Week One

Adam Tarr — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 23:10:00 GMT

Hi,

Well week one of the drive at Desert Trails Elementary is done. Over all we have collected 114 individual friends and $50. We have been told that a lot of people are promising donations for next week and will shop this weekend. There are well over 500 students in the school. We are looking forward to everyone rising to the challenge of an average of 1 per child. Think of how many kids that will make happy. Yep, over 500 more smiles in the hospitals.

Mrs. Worsham's kindergarten class is currently in the lead followed by Mrs. Sisserson's 6th grade class and Mrs. Vice's 2nd grade class. Jordan's Jungle is happy with any donation but we will make the following suggestion: If you want to save yourself a trip to the store, just send a check with the form that was sent home or printed from the donation page on this site. We will provide a tax receipt for any monetary donation, and we can make the money go further! If you are donating a friend, please remember that they must be NEW per hospital regulations

Acknowledgements

Adam Tarr — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 04:36:00 GMT

Hello again,

Although we are extremely grateful for every contribution made, it would be difficult to acknowledge each one. We don't want to leave anyone out, and we appreciate the smallest of contributions because it all goes to our ultimate goal of more smiles. We just want everyone to know they are appreciated. We will however specifically acknowledge certain contributions such as ones we feel are extra generous, and those that are from folks outside of the Phoenix area. Seeing that this charity currently focuses on the Phoenix metro area, we feel a special thanks is due to those who see the beauty of what we are doing even though it's not for their specific area. So, special thanks go out to Harry H of Burlington NJ, and Helene and Jeff of Dallas, TX. Your thoughts and contributions are received with much joy!

We have also started our drive at Desert Trails. Jordan made the morning announcements and we have already started to see contributions. We can't wait to see what the total will bring at the end of the drive. We are hoping to do this in other schools. Let's hope that Desert Trails can set the bar high!

Thanks!