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Give 2 St. Joe's Kids
Tampa Bay Comes Together for Christmas in July
St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital treats thousands of Tampa Bay’s children every year. Whether they arrive by ambulance or are undergoing cancer treatment, they receive the finest medical treatment, emotional support, and loving care available. But they have other special needs – play and distraction from their illness.
The community came together for the annual, month-long Christmas in July donation drive and raised over $130,000 in monetary and toy donations for the extraordinary children at St. Joe’s. The grand finale on July 26 included event coverage by on-air personalities Jen Epstein from Fox 13, Danielle from Magic 94.9, and guest appearances from St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital’s UnMonsters. The day could not be complete without Santa and his elves, who arrived for a day of excitement and holiday spirit, bringing joy and comfort to all.
Thank you to presenting sponsor, Dex Imaging, and everyone who provided donations that will continue to keep up the spirits of St. Joe’s kids all year long!
Rays’ Pitcher Blake Snell Gives and Games
Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher and 2018 American League Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell presented a $20,000 donation to St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital. A portion of the funds was used to purchase 10 GAEMS personal gaming systems equipped with Xbox and PlayStation consoles, per Blake’s request. Blake is an avid gamer himself and was inspired to donate the gaming technology as a way to give back to the kids in the community.
During the visit, Blake spent time playing video games with pediatric patients, answering questions about his love for video games and baseball.
Click here to learn about sponsoring a lobby event.
Kids that do Good
For over 65 days, Theo called St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital home.
Theo was diagnosed with primary cervical Neuroblastoma, a rare pediatric cancer that presented as a tumor reaching from the base of his skull to his collarbone. At only two days old, the tumor started collapsing Theo’s airway and compromising his ability to breathe, resulting in an emergent nine-hour surgery. After two more significant surgeries correcting the damages from the tumor, countless procedures and scans, Theo was finally able to take his first breath of fresh air just after turning two months old.
To say Theo fought to be here is an understatement, but thanks to the compassionate care at St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital, he was able to go home. At over a year old, he is smiling, laughing, and loving life.
Theo’s family was so grateful for their care, they started a fundraising page and helped raise over $800 in toys and monetary donations to help make life easier for other children in the hospital.
Hosting your own personal fundraising page is a fun and easy way to raise money to make a difference for patients and families at St. Joseph’s Hospitals.
Click here to create a fundraising page.
Virtual Reality Comes to St. Joe’s
With proceeds from the 2019 Heroes Ball and other donations, St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital is able to become the first children’s hospital in Florida and the only pediatric facility in the Southeast to use the evolutionary Surgical Theater Precision Virtual Reality™ technology in its pediatric neuro and cardiac surgery programs. Using F-16 flight simulator technology, the program fuses and enhances CT and MRI images to create a 360-degree virtual model of a patient’s anatomy.
“The immersive technology provides our pediatric heart and brain surgeons with a view of the anatomy and pathology of patients’ complex conditions,” said Sarah Naumowich, president of St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital. “With this cutting-edge digital tool, our surgeons have an unprecedented way to plan and strategize the best route for surgery.”
With virtual reality headsets, surgeons can guide a patient through a 360-degree model of their heart or brain to illustrate the condition, treatment options, and potential risks in greater detail than ever before.
“Being able to see what the doctor sees provides patients and their families with a better understanding of the diagnosis, helping to alleviate some of the stress and anxiety that comes with preparing for surgery,” adds Naumowich.
Click here to hear firsthand from Beau and Sam’s parents on how this technology will make a difference to their family.
Christmas in July Nears
Medical settings can be a stressful and frightening experience for children. Toy donations for kids from infants to teens make for great distractions to take their minds off pain and discomfort. Monetary donations help by providing them with fun activities such as art and massage therapy, birthday and milestone celebrations, and play therapy that can help bring momentary escape from their hospital stay and illness.
The month-long event kicks off July 1st, and runs through the grand finale event on Friday, July 26th in the circular drive of St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital. There are many ways you can help and be one of Santa’s elves, click here!
Help spread some mid-year holiday cheer to kids who need it most!
SJCH Implements New Therapy Equipment
Thanks to a generous donation from TECO, an Emera company, St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital is now able to use vibration therapy on outpatient pediatric rehabilitation patients. With the installation of a new Galileo® Tilt Table vibration system at both the SJCH Motion Analysis Center and SJCH North Tampa Specialty Center, Occupational Therapists can provide vibrational training sessions in just three minutes.
The Galileo® Tilt Table is a side-alternating vibrational training system that produces involuntary muscle contractions by using the nervous system to induce up to 4,500 reflexive muscle contractions in a short amount of time, similar to the movement that occurs when walking, but more frequently. The body responds to this motion with reflexive muscle contractions which helps to improve muscle strength and function, increase flexibility and range of motion, decrease muscle spasticity, increase bone density, and improve blood flow.
“Patients with a variety of movement disorders can benefit from vibrational therapy, including those with cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, spinal muscular atrophy, scoliosis, and spinal cord injuries,” says Lauren Rosen, program coordinator of SJCH’s Motion Analysis Center. “And by using the Galileo Tilt Table instead of a free-standing vibration platform, we’re able to provide muscle training to our patients who are unable to stand without support.”
St. Joseph’s Foundation Announces 2019 Heroes Ball
Event Chairs Lou and April La Cava are proud to announce the 2019 St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital Heroes Ball on April 13th at the Hilton Tampa Downtown. This year’s “Journey to Candy Land” themed event will benefit the Children’s Cardiac Surgery Program and honor community hero, Kiran Patel, MD, the global philanthropist and entrepreneur.
The evening includes a cocktail reception, live and silent auction, dinner and entertainment by Jessie’s Girls.
Click Here for sponsorship opportunities or contact our Special Events Officer, Corina Wian, at corina.wian@baycare.org.
Red Little Wagon Fund Rolls Without a Hitch
St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital cares for a variety of children with different surgical needs. Those that require orthopedic intervention to help heal conditions such as developmental hip dysplasia or a broken leg require a SPICA cast for roughly 8-12 weeks. This large cast extends from the mid-chest to the ankle with a bar between the legs to help reinforce the cast and prevent breakage. Due to the cumbersome nature of the cast, a wheelchair will not typically accommodate the cast.
To relieve the strain of transporting a toddler from room to room, doctors’ appointments and daily activities, the Little Red Wagon Fund was created. With funds raised, the hospital has been able to provide families with financial constraints the ability to take care of their injured child in the best way possible.
Click the link below to help St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital purchase a little red wagon to transport our smallest patients.
Memorial Fund Turns Tragedy Into Healing
Bettina Carroccetto loved the beach, she loved good music, and she especially loved being a Pediatric Emergency Nurse at St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital. That was until a tragic car accident took her life eight years ago at just 29 years old.
Through unimaginable grief, her family recognized that Bettina’s passion for helping others must continue. Thus, The Bettina Carroccetto Memorial Fund for Nursing Excellence was established. This fund was created to provide scholarships to St. Joseph’s Hospitals aspiring nurses, and later to fund equipment that assists the nursing team in serving the critical population of the pediatric emergency department. Recently, Bettina’s brother, Alfio, hosted a fundraiser in which proceeds allowed the foundation to purchase a vein viewer for our Steinbrenner Children’s Emergency and Trauma Center. This device helps our team find optimal vein insertion sites, even for our smallest patients.
Thank you to the Carroccetto family for continuing Bettina’s legendary passion for her patients and St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital.
Click the link below if you would like to donate or learn more about the Bettina Carroccetto Fund for Nursing Excellence.
Barnes and Noble Book Drive Approaches
Local Barnes and Noble bookstores are hosting a holiday book drive benefiting St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital. In addition to collecting books, participants may donate toys and activities, and a percentage of all sales will be given to St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital.
Here are ways to participate:
Join us at the South Tampa Barnes & Noble location all day on October 27th to purchase and donate in stores.
Make purchases online from October 27th to November 1st. Be sure to use the book fair ID number: 12443230 and check the box that you’re purchasing as a book fair order so that the proceeds of your purchase go to the Children’s Hospital.
Click the link below to view the selection of books to plan ahead!
