Spirit Halloween Superstores donates $73,878 to UC Davis Child Life and Creative Arts Therapy Department
As part of a nationwide corporate program by Spirit Halloween Superstores, local store operators Kirk and Shanda Pierce presented a check for $73,878 to the Child Life and Creative Arts Therapy Department at UC Davis. Members of their in-store teams were also on hand to celebrate this 2017 campaign fundraising total and be acknowledged for their tremendous dedication to help make hospitals less scary for kids.
Through the Spirit of Children program and generous donations like this, Child Life departments across the country and in Canada can continue to help minimize the anxiety of hospitalization, increase understanding and strengthen coping skills while helping children to continue their typical growth and development.
Spirit Halloween Superstores donate millions of dollars each year to bring fun and funding to local children’s hospitals, also donating a Halloween party for children’s hospital patients and siblings. Since 2007, the Spirit of Children program has successfully collected more than $37 million in cash and merchandise to support the efforts of child life specialists. This recent check brings the total donation made to UC Davis to $458,140 since 2010.
“We are thrilled by the continued support of Spirit Halloween Superstores’ employees and customers,” said Jacquelyn Mills, senior director of development at UC Davis. “Together, they help make a difference every day by helping fund our Child Life Fellowship program and making the hospital experience a little less scary.”
These funds pay for Child Life services in various areas of UC Davis Children’s Hospital including the pediatric and cardiac intensive care unit, neonatal intensive care unit, children’s surgery center, pediatric infusion room, pediatrics unit and radiology.
“Every day, I see the dollars in action through our Spirit-funded fellowship program,” said Diana Sundberg, manager of the Child Life and Creative Arts Therapy Department. “Watching the kids working with the child life fellows, going from scared and anxious to having some understanding and control of what is happening to them in the hospital … it’s beyond words. This continued generosity from Spirit is simply amazing.”
UC Davis Children’s Hospital is the Sacramento region’s only nationally ranked, comprehensive hospital providing care for infants, children, adolescents and young adults with primary, subspecialty and critical care. It includes the Central Valley’s only pediatric emergency department and Level I pediatric trauma center, which offers the highest level of care for its critically ill patients, as well as the West Coast’s only Level I children’s surgery center. The 129-bed children’s hospital includes the state-of-the-art 49-bed neonatal and 24-bed pediatric intensive care and pediatric cardiac intensive care units. For more information, visit children.ucdavis.edu.