Employees at Heartland Dental recently made donations to the Hugs & Cuddles Program at HSHS St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital in an effort to ease the anxiety children feel during a hospital visit.
Heartland Dental employees, Kylie Fehrenbacher and Tracey Warren, led the donation as a part of their “The Power of One” program at Heartland Dental. Fehrenbacher and Warren hosted a stuffed animal drive throughout September at Heartland Dental. Through these efforts, 90 stuffed animals and $900 was donated to the program. The monetary donations are being used to purchase additional stuffed animals which will be used in the Emergency Department.
Kylie Fehrenbacher stated, “Personally, this has been a truly rewarding project. The response we received from co-workers was amazing! So many people connected with our project by either having children who have received bears from St. Anthony’s or knew a child who has. Listening to their stories and simply knowing we can help make a child’s hospital stay a little brighter made it all worth it”.
Launched in 2011, the Hugs & Cuddles program provides children with a stuffed animal for comfort and support, that they can then take home after they leave the hospital. It originated for children that were facing surgery, expanding to X-Rays and CT scans, and most recently the Emergency Department. For more information on how to help hospital programs like Hugs & Cuddles, visit stanthonyshospital.org, or contact Michael Wall, Director of Philanthropy at 217-347-1854 or email Michael.Wall@hshs.org.
Pictured: left to right: Joe Fearday, Chairperson of HSHS St. Anthony’s Foundation Leadership Council; Michael Wall, Director of Philanthropy at HSHS St. Anthony’s Memorial Hospital; Kylie Fehrenbacher; Tracey Warren; Jerry Hecht, Vice Chairperson of HSHS St. Anthony’s Foundation Leadership Council; and Kenny Harris, RN, of HSHS St. Anthony’s Emergency Department.