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In This Issue:
Be it with their time, money or actions, BWHers gave of their hearts this holiday season, heeding the old adage “It is better to give than to receive.”
Employees like Salih Yucel of Chaplaincy Services gave their time to teach colleagues about cultural traditions at the seventh annual Multicultural Holiday Festival Dec. 14. At top right, Yucel explains a Ramadan custom to John Cintron of Audio-Visual.
Many BWHers supported drives that assist those in need, such as the one organized by CWN-3’s Dottie Pender, RN, Arlene Buck, RN, and Ruth Tuomala, MD, pictured third from top, for women living with HIV/AIDS and their families. In its 10th year, the Perinatal AIDS Assistance Program assembles holiday packages of gift cards, clothing, toys and other items and provides emergency assistance throughout the year for patients experiencing crises. This year is the drive’s most successful yet, benefiting 28 families and 45 children.
Another generous act transpired in the Connors Center as the Friends of BWH presented 150 teddy bears to NICU babies. Many of the babies received the bears during a special visit from Santa Claus (Steven Ringer, MD, PhD, chief of Newborn Medicine). Pictured second from top, little Aidan James and his parents, Joan and Aaron Kelly, receive a bear from the NICU’s Nurse in Charge Deirdre Greene and Assistant Nurse Manager Sandy Harmon, and Friends of BWH’s Kathleen Monbouquette and Joan Crocker.
Capping the events was the delivery of 560 handmade hats and scarves to Tobin School students. Under the coordination of BWH’s Joan Casby and DFCI’s Candace Lowe, more than 200 BWH and DFCI employees and friends knitted and crocheted 2,800 hats and other items for the Caps for Kids program, which donates them to organizations for children throughout the city. At bottom right, Tobin kindergarteners mix and match their new winter gear.
Year round, the generosity of BWHers via the Tobin School Fund has helped the school provide necessities like clothing and experiences like summer camp to students who otherwise cannot afford them. BWHers’ donations enabled the school to provide: • Uniforms and school supplies for students • A school-wide trip to Duxbury, MA-based Camp Wing, which incorporates recreation and literacy development, among other camp activities • Cabs when families without access to transportation must pick up children who are sick • Groceries twice a month to needy families • One field trip, including transportation, for every classroom • Summer camp placement for 41 students • Dance instruction for five grades.