Christmas Giving 2006 Update

For 2006, we came to you with the story of two families in need of help.  Following are brief reminders of their stories:

Family   one was made up of three people – Mom, Dad & Ethan.  Ethan is a 17 month old little boy who is developmentally delayed and has been diagnosed with leukemia.  Mom does not work as Ethan needs special care and should avoid exposure to “outside germs” whenever possible due to the medications he is on.  Ethan has numerous appointments for chemotherapy, therapy and general doctor visits. Ethan’s father is working as many hours as he can get through a temporary agency due to the poor job market.  They got rid of their family dog because they could not afford to feed and properly care for a pet.   They needed jackets, shoes, boots, clothes, general clothing, food and gas cards. 

The second family was made up of four people – Mom, Dad, Gage (5 years old) and Kelsi (2 years old).  Kelsi had a heart transplant at one month of age and is on an immunosuppressant to prevent rejection of the new heart.  As a result, she has to be isolated from as many germs as possible.  She can only leave her home for doctors’ appointments and Mom quit working to tend to her medical needs .  She has been diagnosed with Pfeifffer’s syndrome (a yahoo search yielded the medical basics listed below if you are interested) and her medical problems keep her confined to her home.  Gage has severe allergies and Mom also needs to be available for emergency situations at school.   They needed jackets and outerwear, boots, shoes, clothes, food and gas cards.

I am pleased to inform you that thanks to the generosity of people like you, we raised over $1,700.00 to help these families!  We adopted two families and gave a third family a gift card toward food.  Here  is how  we spent your kind donations:

Ø      Snow  suits for each of the 3 children

Ø      A pair of shoes for each of the 3 children

Ø      A pair of boots for each of the 3 children

Ø      2 pair of pajamas  for each of the 3 children

Ø      Hats and gloves for each of the 3 children

Ø      Socks for Ethan & Gage

Ø      Underwear for Kelsi

Ø      Crib Sheets  

Ø      13 educational toys  between the 3 children

Ø      10 outfits for Ethan

Ø      8 outfits each for Kelsi and Gage

Ø      Books for each of the 3 children

Ø      Clothing for Ethan’s parents

Ø      Coats for Kelsi & Gage’s parents

Ø      Hats, scarves & Gloves for each of the parents

Ø      Over $550.00 in food, diapers and gift cards for these items

Ø      $125.00 in gift cards for gas

And even more items were donated already wrapped or used for the use of our families.  Thank  you for helping!  And if you were unable to help for Christmas 2006, please keep us in mind for next year!  We adopt families every year between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 

What is Pfeiffer Syndrome?

Pfeiffer Syndrome (first reported in 1964) is a condition resulting from premature fusion of the sutures of the skull and deformity of the skull. Characteristics include:

• skull is prematurely fused and unable to grow normally (craniosynostosis)
• bulging wide-set eyes due to shallow eye sockets (occular proptosis)
• underdevelopment of the midface
• broad, short thumbs and big toes
• possible webbing of the hands and feet    

Why did this happen?