Our Eagles are Super Bowl champs off the field as well as on the field. They helped our St Christopher’s patients score some touch downs in the Oncology clinic!
Little Smiles and the staff at St Chris partnered to welcome Rick Lovato #45, Joe Walker #59, Mack Hollins #10 and Derek Barnett #96. The players and kids had a fantastic time doing arts and crafts together! We are so thankful to call this team our Philadelphia Eagles! Fly Eagles Fly
If you have attended any of the Little Smiles events over the last year, chances are that you met our friend Zahir. He is a patient at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children and he is nothing short of amazing. We met him in December 2016 at a holiday party and he’s been an inspiration ever since.
When Board Member, Glen Baskin was delivering gifts and treats to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in December 2016, he wasn’t expecting to make a lifelong friend. But after being there for a few minutes, he was listening to the cutest rendition of Rachel Platton’s Fight Song that he had ever heard. The performer’s name was Zahir and he was 6 years old. Glen shook his hand and asked how he learned the song and Zahir’s reply was that he thought the song would be a good one for kids to hear if they needed a pick me up. Since then, Zahir has painted with us, walked the Red Carpet at our Stars Ball, and is now our first Smile Ambassador for Little Smiles.
He represents everything we strive to do as an organization. He just wants to help kids smile. The thing is that he always makes the grown ups smile too 🙂
To celebrate our newest team member, Little Smiles is kicking off its first TEXT TO GIVE campaign and all of the proceeds for the month of February will go to program development at St. Christopher’s Hospital. You can text SMILE17 to 24700 and make a donation through our GiveSmart platform. Zahir has been a part of the Little Smiles family for a long time but we are so excited to welcome him into this role and see smiles spread even farther!
10 years of smiles were celebrated with style at the Crystal Tea Room in Philadelphia, PA on Saturday, November 19, 2016. The red carpet welcomed 10 local kids from area hospitals that have demonstrated strength, grace, and courage while undergoing treatment or medical attention. Nominated by their own health care teams, their nurses and social workers escorted them down the red carpet in true celebrity style. Local sponsors and supporters made the night magical by providing salon services, limo rides, tuxes and dresses and many other special touches that made the evening perfect. “These remarkable kids were able to leave the hospital behind for a night and enjoy being kids,” said director of marketing, Stephanie Tomko. “The staff at the Crystal Tea room left no detail unattended, we can’t thank them enough.” Swoop and the Phillie Phanatic kicked off the festivities on the Red Carpet and the night was emceed by Philadelphia’s own Mike Jerrick from Fox29. “We raised the most in the history of the Stars Ball tonight, and we couldn’t be more grateful to our sponsors, our volunteers and everyone in this room”, said Board President, Justin Grass. Little Smiles will host their 10th annual Monte Carlo Night at Citizens Bank Park on Saturday March 25th at 7pm. For more information and tickets, click HERE.
Nemours AI DuPont Hospital for Children is located in Wilmington, DE. Ranked among the best children’s hospitals in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, Nemours AI duPont has also been awarded the elite distinction as a 2012 Leapfrog Group Top Children’s Hospital, making them one of the safest children’s hospitals in the country. Throughout all of their specialty areas, they’ve assembled superior expertise among family-centered teams — to help tackle many of the toughest challenges kids can face.
After a 450,000 square foot expansion, the hospital boasts a brand new Blood and Bone Marrow Transplant Unit with an exceptional medical team for families that are in the hospital for what are sometimes lengthy periods of time. Little Smiles works closely with the social workers, nurses and child life specialists to fulfill requests and ensure that the safety and specific needs of the families are always the top priority. While visiting the unit with special deliveries, Kate Patterson, co-executive director and program manager noticed a room on the floor that was not being fully utilized. After many meetings, discussions and a lot of careful planning, we are excited to kick-off a $10,000 renovation to create the Little Smiles’ Family Room.
Because of the often-suppressed immune systems of kids staying on the floor, parents don’t want to leave. Having a designated room on the floor gives parents, family members and patients a place to go for a snack or change in scenery or a comforting conversation without having to go far. The room will include comfortable seating, a kitchen, and televisions that are for exclusive use of the unit and most importantly, will not require going outside of the safety zone.
With any large project comes the need for support. If you are able and willing to sponsor this amazing transformation, please contact Stephanie Tomko at stomko@littlesmiles.org.
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