COVID-19 Update:Learn more about how we are protecting our patients, families and staff, as well as other important facts about COVID-19.
Donations to Dr. Bear's Closet
Dr. Bear's Closet Wish List
Children’s National Hospital accepts donations of brand-new toys, books, games, clothing, and gift cards for Dr. Bear’s Closet throughout the year.
View the wish list
Please note: Due to COVID-19, it is preferred that donations are made through our online wish list or by mailing/shipping approved items. Thank you for your understanding, patience, and continued support during this time.
Donations
Thank you for your interest in supporting Children’s National Hospital! Your donations will be given to patients and family members during their hospital visit to provide comfort, offer distractions and to normalize the hospital setting.
With patient safety being our top priority, we are taking an abundance of caution and have revamped our donation guidelines with infection prevention in mind. These standards allow us to ensure the highest level of quality and safety for our patients.
Please carefully review our wish list, donation guidelines and FAQs below. Have a question? Please email us or call 202-476-2062.
How Can I Support the Hospital this Holiday Season?
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Online Donations – Wish List
You can donate toys, games and clothing directly to Dr. Bear’s Closet through our online wish list. To help meet the current needs of the hospital, we recommend sorting the online wish list by our favorites! Items will be directly shipped to the Volunteer Services office.
Mailing Donations
Brand new items purchased with recommendations from our wish list (PDF) can be shipped/mailed directly to the Volunteer Services office at the address below. Please print and complete our In-Kind Donation Form, and include it with your donation.
Children’s National Hospital
Attn: Volunteer Services Office, Suite 1180
111 Michigan Ave NW
Washington, DC 20010
*If your donation is too large to mail, please email us at volunteerservices@childrensnational.org to schedule a donation appointment.
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Making a monetary donation to Dr. Bear’s Closet allows us to purchase highly requested items for patients and families as well as the programs we support.
By Check
Please make checks payable to Children’s National Medical Center or CNMC with “Dr. Bear’s Closet” in the memo line and mail to:
Children’s National Hospital
Attn: Volunteer Services Office, Suite 1180
111 Michigan Ave NW
Washington, DC 20010
Online
Make an online donation to Dr. Bear’s Closet.
Guidelines
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All in-kind donations must be:
- Brand new (purchased within the last 3-6 months)
- In original packaging
- Free of strong scents or odors
- Non-toxic
- Latex free
- Stuffed animals must still have tags
Please refer to our Dr. Bear’s Closet online holiday wish list for approved items that we can accept and refer to our list of items below that we cannot accept.
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- Items that are gift-wrapped
- Any used or opened items
- Items that have been in storage (donated items must have been purchased within the last 3-6 months)
- Handmade knit, fleece or crocheted blankets or clothing (i.e. hats)
- Items that contain latex
- Cards, notes or letters (including homemade cards)
- Items that have been exposed to smoke or other strong scents
- Food/candy/formula
- Stuffed animals without a tag
- Collectible items
- Sharp items (i.e. threading needle, pencil sharpeners)
- Breakable items (i.e. porcelain, glass, handmade wooden toys)
- Stuffed animals more than 18 inches tall
- Beanie babies or other stuffed animals with small pellets
- Items that contain any personal information
- Handmade jewelry
- Toys, books or movies with sensitive issues (i.e. violence, politics, holidays, religion, death, divorce, weapons, etc.)
FAQs
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For infection control reasons, we are
unable to accept any used items.
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When mailing/shipping donations, please complete the in-kind donation form and include with your donation for acknowledgement and recording purposes. Once a donation is made, donors will receive an acknowledgement letter for personal record keeping purposes. Donors may wish to attach a value for record-keeping purposes (i.e. purchase receipt).
If donating through our online holiday wish list, donors will receive an emailed donation acknowledgement.
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Donors should receive a hard-copy tax receipt for all monetary gifts received by the hospital. We thank you in advance for your donation.
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Currently, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are not accepting donations of handmade knit, crochet or fleece blankets, quilts or clothing. We are also not able to accept donations of homemade greeting cards. Thank you for your understanding and patience during this time. Please continue to check this webpage for future updates.
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For infection control, safety and confidentiality reasons, donors are not able to visit with or distribute gifts directly to patients.
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For safety reasons, we currently encourage donors to focus on giving through our online wish list. If you do plan to host a drive to collect brand new items for our patients and families, please ensure that proper precautions are in place.
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We typically reserve service hours for individuals volunteering onsite at Children's National Hospital. However, due to our current limited onsite opportunities, we can sign off on service hours for individuals who engaged in service projects or hosted a donation drive to benefit the hospital.
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Thank you for your interest in supporting Children’s National Hospital! For a list of current community support opportunities, please see our Community Support Opportunities Guide (PDF).