HERSHEY, Pa. — Penn State Health Children’s Week, a fundraising campaign to benefit Children’s Miracle Network’s (CMN) Patient Assistance Endowment, began today with a kickoff event in the Tree House Café at Penn State Health Children’s Hospital.
During the event, the Child Life team created balloon-themed crafts with pediatric patients, Miracle Children, fundraising partners, and CMN Advisory Board members to celebrate “lifting up families in need.” BraveCubs, a student-run organization at the Penn State College of Medicine, brought joy to pediatric patients and Miracle Children with famous characters in costume.
Gifts to Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) at Penn State Health Children’s Hospital during Penn State Health Children’s Week will support CMN’s Patient Assistance Endowment, which helps patients and their families with the unexpected cost of medication, equipment, travel expenses, food, clothing, adaptive car seats and more.
Laura Bixler, an operations manager at Penn State Health Children’s Hospital, has long known about the incredible care that the hospital provides for patients and families, but, she said, she learned firsthand how the Patient Assistance Fund helps to provide peace of mind when her daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. Watch a video about their family’s experience and learn how Children’s Miracle Network helps families facing the unexpected.
“This endowment provides hot meals for parents who can’t leave their child’s bedside, medication for a child unexpectedly diagnosed with diabetes, or a special car seat so a child with a hip cast can travel safely,” says Katie Anderson, director of CMN. “As this endowment grows, we can continue to help families now and for years to come. Thank you!”
Sponsors of the event included Ace Hardware; The GIANT Company; United Concordia, Shollenberger; Januzzi & Wolfe LLP; Members 1st Federal Credit Union; Walmart Inc.; McClure Company; and Cumulus Media.
Learn more at CMNHershey.org.
About Children’s Miracle Network at Penn State Health Children’s Hospital
Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals is a non-profit organization that has affiliations with 170 children’s hospitals including Penn State Health Children’s Hospital. Gifts raised locally through Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) fund equipment, patient programs and pediatric research at Penn State Health Children’s Hospital, which is the only children’s hospital between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia fully equipped to treat the most severely ill children of central Pennsylvania. CMN’s mission is to save kids’ lives and improve their quality of care.
About Philanthropy at Penn State
With the record-breaking success of “A Greater Penn State for 21st Century Excellence,” which raised $2.2 billion from 2016 to 2022, philanthropy is helping to sustain the University’s tradition of education, research and service to communities across the Commonwealth and around the globe. Scholarships enable our institution to open doors and welcome students from every background, support for transformative experiences allows our students and faculty to fulfill their vast potential for leadership, and gifts toward discovery and excellence help us to serve and impact the world we share. To learn more about the impact of giving and the continuing need for support, please visit raise.psu.edu.