Spirit of Children Reaches Spooktacular Fundraising Milestone With Latest Donation to Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital

On March 24, Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital and Opens in new tab Spirit Halloween came together to celebrate a major fundraising milestone. With the presentation of a check for $114,676, Opens in new tab Spirit of Children – Spirit Halloween’s charitable foundation – has officially donated $1.1 million to the Child Life Program at Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital since 2012.

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 during the Halloween season. When shoppers donate in-store at a Spirit Halloween location in the Lehigh Valley, 100% of their charitable contribution stays local, going directly to Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital to benefit kids and families in the region.

“We are so passionate about helping the kids in our community, we don’t ask whether someone would like to donate, we ask ‘How much would you like to donate to the Child Life program at Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital?’” says Randy Anthony, Director, Spirit Stores-Mid-Atlantic, Spirit Halloween. “And we celebrate every single donation with the ringing of a bell and a team cheer. It is truly a group effort between our staff and the community.”

Since 2012, Spirit Halloween has given $1.1 million 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.

“We are so grateful for the generosity and continued support of Spirit of Children,” says Vanessa Gramm-Mackey, Director, Child Life Program 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. This includes hosting a Halloween party for our patients each fall that features donated costumes, games and fun activities.”

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 from this past year will be used to:

• Purchase more KindVR headsets, which create a virtual MRI experience to alleviate nerves and reduce the need for sedation or anesthesia.
• Install a brand-new fish tank on the Children’s Hospital’s 4B Pediatric Unit as well as maintain a fish tank on Pediatric Unit 5J that was originally purchased using Spirit of Children funds.
• Buy new gaming systems 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.