Healing with toys

Families in need will have extra special holidays this year, thanks to the efforts of staff from Winthrop-University Hospital who recently “adopted” 25 families from West Hempstead High School in West Hempstead UFSD to shower with gifts, love and special wishes for a bright holiday season.

Staff from various departments throughout the Hospital rallied together for its annual Adopt-a-Family Program and as a result, hundreds of gifts were collected – from gift cards, toys and clothing, to sporting event tickets and computers – for those in need. The gifts were presented to representatives from the High School on December 11, 2013, so that they may deliver them to each of the families just in time for Christmas.

“For the past few years, we have had the opportunity to provide for families in need with our Adopt-A-Family Program,” said Matti Hasselmann, MPA, CPC, Administrative Director of the Departments of Thoracic & Cardiovascular Surgery and Orthopaedics at Winthrop, who, along with Carol Giordano, Winthrop’s Employee Activities Coordinator, leads the charge for this initiative at Winthrop. “This year, we were excited to team up with West Hempstead High School to provide for families in our community who are most deserving of a holiday that is sure to be remembered for years to come.”

The school, who has determined the recipients of the gifts, was most appreciative of the Hospital’s efforts to make the holiday season less stressful for others.

“As a representative of the staff at West Hempstead High School, I would like to thank everyone involved with the ‘Adopt-A-Family’ program. The time and generosity people provided to help our families is humbling,” said Dan Rehman, Principal of West Hempstead High School. “The opportunity to work with Winthrop-University Hospital has been a tremendous experience. We learn side-by-side with our students and develop the ideas of passion, persistence and resilience. This program exemplifies the characteristics which we want our students to model.”

For more information about Winthrop-University Hospital, visit www.winthrop.org or call 1-866-WINTHROP.