For the Media

In March 2013, founder and CEO Carissa Carroll gave birth to her son, Jack, who was diagnosed with Trisomy 21 – Down syndrome – shortly after his delivery. The nature of how this news was delivered to Carissa and her husband was more disheartening than supportive and celebratory. 

The experience motivated Carroll to make sure all babies, regardless of their diagnosis, are celebrated and welcomed the way they deserve to be and parents feel supported with resources and a built-in community to embrace their child’s diagnosis. One year after Jack’s birth, Carroll and her family delivered the first Jack’s Basket to the same hospital where Jack was born.

Our mission is to celebrate babies with Down syndrome. We strive to ensure that every new and expectant parent is provided with resources and support within the Down syndrome community. We equip medical providers with tools to discuss the diagnosis in an unbiased way, so having a baby with Down syndrome is celebrated like any other.

There are three primary areas of focus:

1. Engaging and equipping medical providers with tools to communicate and discuss Down syndrome accurately and without bias
2. Connecting new parents with other families and resources through our basket delivery program

Sharing powerful stories to change the narrative around Down syndrome

Since its start in 2014, Jack’s Basket has delivered over 11,000 baskets in all 50 states and more than 50 countries around the world. More than 200 volunteers help to deliver baskets, and over 700 medical providers have requested baskets or resources.

Each basket provides a variety of resources, gifts for the mom and baby, books, and other baby care items. Some of the specific items include:

• Literature on Down syndrome to help the family process the diagnosis
• Information on local and national Down syndrome resources  
• Stories of families raising a child with Down syndrome     
• Toy to promote fine motor development      
• Onesie 
• Blanket
• Baby books 
• A handwritten note from an individual with Down syndrome

Staff and volunteers assemble baskets on a weekly basis from an existing inventory of materials. Depending on the family’s preference, the baskets are either delivered to them in-person by a parent volunteer or shipped directly to the family. Regardless of how the basket is delivered, each family is given the opportunity to connect with a Jack’s Basket Parent Volunteer, who is also raising a child with Down syndrome.

We actively engage the medical community on an ongoing basis to help educate on how to interact and communicate with families receiving a Down syndrome diagnosis. Led by our full-time Medical Education Specialist, we host presentations and offer tailored curriculum for medical professionals around the US in accordance with the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education program. Our team presented to nearly 1,000 providers in 2024, and over 700 providers have engaged with our mission.

We have two formal volunteer roles specific to parents. The first is serving as a Basket Delivery Parent, ensuring baskets are delivered to new families, and offering a chance to connect with a parent a little further along on the journey. 

The second is a Regional Lead Parent who serves as the local face of Jack’s Basket in regions around the United States our RLPs are critical to our mission as they provide leadership in larger metro areas and interact with medical providers on behalf of Jack’s Basket.  

Hundreds more volunteer at the Jack’s Basket office, at events and within the community on an ongoing basis.

Approximately 98-percent of our funding comes through private donations, with the rest being made up of private grants awarded to Jack’s Basket. Our annual Gala is our largest fundraising effort, earning more than $1 Million in donations in 2024. Additionally, peer-to-peer campaigns, businesses, and other organizations contribute to our operating expenses. Our projected budget for 2025 is $1.8 million.

Jack’s Basket employs 8 full-time staff members. These employees represent roles in finance, marketing, development, volunteer coordination, and medical education. More than 200 volunteers are located throughout the country.

Our Board of Directors, made up of eight business and medical professionals, help guide our mission and operations, ensuring our strategy is sound and investments in staffing and resources are thoughtfully executed.

Anyone can get involved by becoming a volunteer, giving, participating in any of our annual fundraising events such as Burgers & Baskets and Jogging for Jack’s, or simply referring friends, family, and medical providers to the organization

As more families and medical providers continue to learn about our mission and impact, we anticipate ongoing growth through more basket requests around the world, more volunteers, more corporate partners, and new funding sources. About one-third of new parents of children with Down syndrome are familiar with Jack’s Basket, so we will continue to work hard to raise awareness of our mission.

Our headquarters office will be expanding its space in 2026 to accommodate recent growth in staffing and programming. We look forward to enhancing our medical community engagement with new programming, and Carissa Carroll is looking forward to spreading the word about our work through more public appearances, sparking greater community advocacy.