Gary and Mary Martha Parisher's Mt Laurel office is packed with children's toys, snack foods, magazines and piles of bright green boxes. It's all part of the Cheeriodicals mission: to deliver smiles and entertainment to hospital rooms around the country.

 

Cheeriodicals - a portmanteau of "cheer" and "periodicals" - started in 2011 as a way for customers to send magazines and other gifts to hospitalized family members and friends. Since then, their signature green boxes have become a popular way for major corporations to organize team-building and community service projects for their employees.

 

Gary Parisher said he and his wife have worked with Regions Bank, Wells Fargo, GM and others to build and deliver Cheeriodicals to patients in children's hospitals from Birmingham to Manhattan to Omaha. When hundreds of boxes are being delivered, no child has to be left out of the fun. Parisher still remembers the first time a child opened a Cheeriodicals box; the look on the young boy's face paved the way for these corporate partnerships.

 

"His reaction was so incredible we decided to consider this a real significant part of our business," Parisher said.