By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The Wellbrock family faced the inconceivable.
While his parents thought 3-year-old Matthew was quietly eating his lunch, the boy had snuck out of the house into the garage and been crushed between the garage door and a heavy truck tailgate.
Matthew was rushed to the hospital and had to be lifeflighted to a trauma center.
A friend brought the family a bag with simple items, which proved essential as they held vigil by little Matthew's bedside.
Tragically, Matthew did not survive his injuries.
However, as a memorial to their son, the Wellbrocks, in cooperation with Women Who Lead, created the Matthew's Gift program, which provides a bag of essential hygiene and comfort supplies to families whose loved ones have been transferred to other hospitals from HaysMed in an emergency.
Since the program began in 2019, hundreds of local families have received the bags and the aid they bring.
However, demand for the bags has been increasing, and Women Who Lead is searching to add to its list of sponsors or individual donors to continue the program.
Each bag and its contents cost $124.75. HaysMed distributed 137 bags in 2024. The hospital projects it will need 144 bags in 2025. Werth Wealth Management provides water, D & L Body Shop provides playing cards, Golden Plains Credit Union provides a notepad and HaysMed provides some of the hygine items and phone chargers.
Nancy Jeter, a Women Who Lead board member, said the organization estimates the program will cost $14,000 per year moving forward.
Jeanna Wellbrock, Matthew's mother, said, "People don't realize when you just take off and leave what you don't have."
Jeanna had quickly packed a bag, but she wouldn't leave Matthew's side even to walk to the car or go to the cafeteria. An acquaintance from Wichita, an EMT, brought the family a bag of essentials—the bag that would ultimately be the model for Matthew's Gift.
"That bag showed up, and I remember pulling the toothbrush out and brushing my teeth for the first time in three days," she said.
"I remember thinking, 'Well, that feels good.' I know that may seem so incredibly trivial, but it was just that little thing that made you feel a little more normal in a really unnormal situation."
The Wellbrocks have five other children besides Matthew. The children were in seventh grade, fourth grade, kindergarten plus 9-month-old twin girls, and the kids were at the hospital with their parents.
"There was this whole chaos going on, and there were people who were helping with the chaos, but there was something in that bag for everybody," she said. ...
"There was a deck of cards in there, and the kids sat in the waiting room and played slapjack," she said.
Her friend had packed the bag with Chex mix, which the kids ate. They loved going through the bag, and it was something to distract them.
"There was something for each of the kids so they didn't feel like they were lost in the chaos," she added.
Jeanna said working to launch Matthew's gift was a source of healing for her husband.
The Wellbrocks had twin daughters who were only 9 months old when Matthew died. They have no memory of Matthew. They know of him through what others have shared with them and the Matthew's Gift program.
"It's their connection to Matthew, whom they didn't know," she said. "It's helped all of us in a different way by keeping his memory alive, but also giving us a connection to something."
His mother said Matthew was the kind of kid who, even at 3, wanted to jump in and help, so she said it is very fitting that a program such as this bears his name.
"It doesn't matter if you are an older person or a younger person, everybody gets a bag who gets sent out," Jeanna said.
Women Who Lead regularly receive thank-you cards from people who have received the bags, but so do the Wellbrocks.
A father recently shared his experience with the program with Women Who Lead.
“When my newborn daughter was flown to Denver with an unknown heart defect, someone handed me Matthew’s Gift bag as I boarded the midnight flight out of Hays Regional with nothing but a change of clothes," he said.
"The snacks, water, toothbrush, and phone charger—basic travel stuff—became lifelines at 3 a.m. when I wouldn't leave her side, especially when I realized that bottle of water came from my local bank. Thank you to the sponsors of Matthew's Gift and to Women Who Lead for your continued support for families like mine in need."
Jeanna was most touched by a phone call she received from a friend. Her son was being flown out of Hays because he had an RSV infection.
"She called me from the parking lot as she was walking out to her car, " Jeanna said. "She was crying. She said, 'I wasn't expecting this, but I know everything is going to be OK. They handed me this, and for whatever reason, I know everything is going to be OK, now.'"
A mother who had a loved one flown out of Hays reached out to thank the Wellbrocks. She said she had to leave Hays right at supper time, and she had her small kids with her.
"They needed to eat, but I was not stopping," the woman told Jeanna.
"That saved having to run through a drive-through. Being able to hand that back to the other kids was huge," the woman told Jeanna.
Until you have gone through something like that, you don't realize how hard it is to pack and know exactly what you need," Jeanna said.
"Having that thought process taken care of for you when your brain is all over the place is a huge relief. You're trying to process something so absolutely catastrophic."
Not everyone who has a loved one flown out of Hays is facing a life-or-death situation.
"For the people who are facing a life-or-death situation, they're in a place you can't even imagine being, because your brain won't let you go there until you have to," Jeanna said.
"They are being supported in a way you can't explain to someone who hasn't done it. ... Knowing there is that little bit of comfort. I don't know if that's the right word, because there's nothing comforting about your kid being put on a helicopter and flown out, but knowing there is the support."
"It's that little piece of home. It's holding on to your roots and knowing whatever happens, it's going to be OK," she said.
After learning about the Matthew's Gift program in Hays, members from other communities have asked about initiating similar programs at other hospitals, Jeanna said, spreading Matthew's love even further.
If you would like to donate to Matthew Gift, visit womenwholead.org and click on the "Directed Donation" button on the homepage. Check the Matthew Gift box under "Where do you want your donation directed?"
You can also send checks payable to Women Who Lead to PO Box 453, Hays, KS 67601, with "Matthew's Gift" in the description line. You can also email [email protected] for more information on donating to the program or becoming a sponsor.
Each canvas bag contains the following:
Bottled water
Cheese crackers w/cheese
Rice Crispy bars
Pretzel crisps
Cookies
Cheez-It Crackers
Animal crackers
Hershey Kisses
Breakfast bars
Slim Jims
Fruit snacks
Hard Candy
Mints
Chewing gum
Journal/unlined plain notebook
Women Who Lead ink pen
Note pad
Colored pencils
Adult coloring book
Crossword puzzle book
Sudoku puzzle book
Word search book
Mechanical pencil
Deck of playing cards
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Mouthwash
Deodorant
Hand sanitizer
Tissues
Phone charger
Plastic baggies
Envelopes/inserts
Fleece blanket
$50 Visa gas card for gas/food, etc.