日本ケロッグ, キープ・スマイリング and しぶたね jointly held the “Heroes Assemble! Smile Siblings Festival” at Tokyo Metropolitan Children's Medical Center. The event placed siblings at its centre and was attended by approximately 274 family members.
On Monday, 10 August, the “Heroes Assemble! Smile Siblings Festival” was held at Tokyo Metropolitan Children's Medical Center, with 日本ケロッグ合同会社, the certified NPO キープ・スマイリング and the NPO しぶたね working together. Approximately 274 family members, including siblings, attended the event.
To support the day-to-day lives of siblings, whose experiences are often overlooked, the event featured fair-style activities inspired by a summer festival, an original magic show starring characters including Tony the Tiger, Shibread and Donguri-kun, and a letter-writing corner. Visitors interacted with the characters and conveyed their feelings to siblings through letters.
In the latter half of the event, visits were made to hospital wards, with Tony, Shibread and Cathy Funky visiting the wards. They delivered food-support supplies, including cereal, and letter-writing sets to children staying in hospital, and distributed special summer packs. The rounds throughout the hospital were intended to encourage communication within the hospital and create smiles for families.
The event was recognised as an initiative that values the feelings of siblings and was positioned as an extension of the organisations' previous support activities. Comments from those involved noted that this was the first large-scale event held across the hospital, reaffirming the importance of supporting families.
Kellogg stated that it would continue working with hospitals and organisations to create opportunities for hospitalised children and their families to spend time smiling.