Donation to fund toys for patients
(ST. LOUIS, Mo) Last year’s Halloween festivities were not so scary for children at Shriners Hospitals for Children® – St. Louis.
Spirit Halloween Headquarters hosted the Spirit of Children day on October 18, 2011, a day full of crafts, costumes, pumpkin painting and Halloween festivities.
In 2011, Spirit collected $26,980 from patron donations at their S.t Louis area stores and online. The funds are donated to one children’s hospital in the St. Louis area.
Spirit Halloween's Mark Wilson, Tom Howell and Dawn Svoboda will present a check to Shriners Hospitals for Children on Wednesday, February 8. The Spirit Halloween Headquarters’ goal is to aid in the treatment of children through child life departments and recreational therapy.
The child life department at Shriners Hospitals for Children – St. Louis will graciously accept this donation, which has grown from $3,722 in 2007 to an astounding $26,980 donated in 2011.
Each year, Spirit employees travel to the hospital of choice, bring decorations and costumes and host a party for the children. On Halloween day, the goblins, princesses, clowns and witches parade around the hospital in the donated costumes, trick-or treat around the hospital, decorate pumpkins and really enjoy this escape from regular hospital life.
“Holidays in a children’s hospital are super important because the kids sit and think about ‘I’m not at home for Halloween. This is what I’m missing,’” said Barb Sacco, director of the child life department and recreational therapy.
Along with the costumes and Spirit of Children day celebration, Spirit gives a monetary gift to enhance the program. The donation to the child life department will be used to enhance the hospital's playroom with new basketball hoops, active play things and pre-op distraction tools such as iPads, explained Sacco.
The recreational therapy department may seem like a large room full of toys, games, sports equipment and craft supplies, but each object has a purpose in recreational therapy.
“This department is not really entertainment, but therapeutic activity with the kids and play with a purpose,” said Sacco. “It’s also a teaching area. We use play for medical play and pre-op teaching. We do distraction during painful procedures.”
About Shriners Hospitals for Children
Shriners Hospitals for Children is a health care system of 22 hospitals dedicated to improving the lives of children by providing pediatric specialty care, innovative research, and outstanding teaching programs for medical professionals. Children up to age 18 with orthopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate are eligible for care and receive all services in a family-centered environment, regardless of the ability to pay. Learn more at www.shrinershospitalsforchldren.org.
Shriners Hospitals for Children is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and relies on the generosity of donors. All donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent permitted by law.