Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital Receives Record Donation From Spirit of Children

Spirit of Children – Spirit Halloween’s charitable foundation – made its largest ever contribution to Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital on Feb. 28 with the presentation of a check for $133,443 for the Child Life program at the children's hospital.

Focused on making hospitals less scary for kids and their families, Spirit of Children raises money in Spirit Halloween stores, as well as online at SpiritHalloween.com and through its business partners. When shoppers donate in-store at a Spirit Halloween location in the Lehigh Valley, 100% of their donation stays local, going directly to Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital to benefit kids and families in the region.

“We are so grateful for the generosity and continued support of Spirit of Children,” says Vanessa Gramm-Mackey, certified Child Life Specialist at Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital. “Spirit of Children is an essential partner for our Child Life team. It is because of them that we are able to provide the great experiences for our patients and families.”

Since 2012, Spirit Halloween has given more than $870,000 to Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital’s Child Life Program. These funds have been used to help patients, parents, caregivers and siblings feel more at ease about surgeries, clinic appointments and hospital stays. It also enables the Child Life team to ensure kids are meeting developmental and educational milestones while undergoing treatment by providing for distraction and relaxation tools, medical play, special events, pet therapy, playrooms and more.

Previous support from Spirit of Children has been used to purchase arts and crafts, gifts, dolls for educational purposes and KindVR headsets, which use virtual reality to help children relax during medical treatments. The funds have also been used to:

• Upgrade the fish tank on our hospital’s 5J Pediatric Unit
• Bring sensory carts to inpatient areas.
• Add four charging lockers for our families to be able to securely charge their phones and tablets.
• Buy new PlayStations for our Children’s Cancer & Infusion Center.

Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital would like to thank all who donated online or at a Spirit Halloween store in the Lehigh Valley. It’s because of your generosity that we’re able to continue advancing our quality of care and the support we’re able to provide children and their families in the region.