I want to take a moment to make a shout out to an organization that made our hospital stay much more enjoyable than it could have been.
The Starlight Foundation is a non-profit organization that supports hospitals and sick children.
At the hospital where we were staying, the Starlight Foundation was responsible for the playroom.
Now, we couldn’t take advantage of the playroom until the third day, as Baby Monkey was tethered to the wall, however, we were able to take toys and bring them to our room. And, on the third day, when he was un-tethered from the wall, we spent a few hours there as we waited for results.
Check this place out.
They had books, games, instruments, toys, computers, a craft station, a big screen tv for playing movies or video games, a Wii, Nintendo DS, GameBoy, trains, trucks, cars, blocks…basically anything a small child or teenager could want.
The one thing that kept going through my head while we were in the hospital was that I was so grateful that Baby Monkey wasn’t sick. Because there were a lot of kids there that were. There were many kids who had been there before we got there and were nowhere near ready to go when we left. There were kids who are there at least once a week for one treatment or another. Other kids who come in and can never really go home.
It breaks the heart.
So, the Starlight Foundation exists and it helps those kids make a really crappy situation bearable. It doesn’t cure them, but it certainly helps them forget, even if just for a short while.
My friend, Michaela, used to work for Starlight. I remember the amazing things she used to talk about the foundation doing.
So, if you are thinking about any charitable donations in the coming year, I would encourage you to keep the Starlight Foundation in mind.
