Children's Hospital

TCU Rollers Strike Gold

Members of Children’s Hospital’s TCU Rollers bowling team won first place in their division during the Special Olympics Urban Programs for the City of Richmond in December. The team included six current and former residents of the hospital’s TCU – Zarren, Jesse, Lauren, Bradford, Amanda, and Erik. Amanda also was the individual high scorer in the division, beating Erik by only one point.

Coached by hospital education teacher Karol Green, the TCU Rollers were organized in 2000 and have won first place in the division for the last seven years.

TCU Residents Perform Holiday Concert

On Dec. 18, residents of the hospital’s Transitional Care Unit (TCU) performed for family, friends and staff members during their annual holiday concert. Led by Music Therapist Julie Bowman and assisted by the Recreation Therapy and Education Departments, the children performed several holiday favorites including “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer,” “Holly Jolly Christmas” and “Here Comes Santa Claus.” More than 75 guests enjoyed a solo performance by Erik, 20, during “Silver Bells.” Other highlights included the TCU high school students performing “Little Drummer Boy” and the elementary school students using assistive technology to share the story of the Gingerbread Man.

Annual Kiwanis Party Spreads Holiday Cheer

The Richmond Kiwanis Club hosted its 53rd annual Kiwanis Holiday Party in the Children’s Hospital auditorium on Dec. 5. TCU residents enjoyed a day of fun and holiday entertainment with Kiwanis members, an interactive puppet show performed by Kamp Kreatures and a surprise visit and gifts from Santa Claus and his elves.

The next morning, Kiwanians returned to spread holiday cheer to outpatients, serving a special holiday breakfast to patients and their families. The morning also included a special appearance by Snow Bear who posed for pictures and played with the children.
The Richmond Kiwanis Foundation recently donated $8,000 to support the 2008 holiday party and Bike Helmet project.

Back-to-School Basics

More than 1,000 children went back to school early this year during the Back-to-School Safety Fair sponsored by Kohl’s Department Stores. Held at The Diamond during a Richmond Braves game, the Aug. 26 event included a variety of interactive booths offering valuable information about school health and safety including backpack and bus safety and proper nutrition. Seven-year-old Children’s Hospital patient Chad threw out the first pitch on behalf of the hospital.

The afternoon event was one of many safety and outreach programs sponsored by Kohl’s through donations from the Kohl’s Cares for Kids program. This year’s $81,000 gift supports a year-long “Improve Your Safety Sense” campaign that includes two Health & Safety Days, Fire Prevention Day, a series of safety posters provided to schools and physicians and a series of “safety minutes” scheduled for broadcast on local radio. Funds also are used to support the publication of Children’s Hospital’s TidBits, an online newsletter that provides parents with news, knowledge and healthy fun for their families.

Nationally, Kohl’s offers special items for sale four times a year with 100 percent of the net profits donated to designated health and educational programs across the country, including Children’s Hospital of Richmond. Since 2001, Children’s Hospital has received more than $517,000 from the Kohl’s Cares for Kids program.

Dancing for Children

The ninth annual Virginia Dance Festival sponsored by the Jessica Morgan School of Dance was held on Jan. 26 at James River High School. More than 300 dancers representing more than 30 dance troupes performed afternoon and evening shows, which highlighted a variety of dance styles including tap, hip-hop, jazz, ballroom, Irish, ballet, classical Indian, musical theater and more. More than $20,000 was raised from ticket sales, sponsors and silent auction donations.

“The Virginia Dance Festival continues to be an overwhelming success with 33 organizations joining us this year,” said Jessica Morgan. “I am amazed at the talent that the performing groups display and the spirit of giving the students reflect. We are proud that we have now given more than $100,000 to Children’s Hospital from our last nine years of performances.”

American Family Fitness Monies Fund Two Programs

American Family Fitness donated $58,900 to Children’s Hospital Foundation representing proceeds from its June golf tournament and October 10K Run/Walk. The money will be divided between the TCU expansion and uncompensated care. In December, Brian Evans, President of American Family Fitness, and other company representatives toured the hospital and presented their donation to Kerry Kent Blumberg, Director of Foundation and Legislative Relations.

Searching for Dollars

An easy way to help Children’s Hospital Foundation is through a new search engine powered by Yahoo! called GoodSearch. GoodSearch will make a donation to Children’s Hospital Foundation or any of your other favorite charities each time you use its site to perform a web search. To get started simply go to GoodSearch.com. In the “Who do you GoodSearch for” box, type or choose Children’s Hospital Foundation (Richmond, VA). From then on, each time you use GoodSearch to search the internet, Children’s Hospital Foundation will benefit.

For more information on how to use GoodSearch to contribute to Children’s Hospital Foundation please contact or contact GoodSearch at 1-877-466-3004 (1-877-GOOD-004).

Hospital Tours Enlighten Legislators

In an effort to better educate elected officials, Children’s Hospital began an initiative to bring area legislators to the hospital for a tour so they can learn about the impact the hospital has on the community. In 2007 staff welcomed U.S. Congressman Bobby Scott, pictured with Mark Nicol, Director of Facilities (r); State Senator Ryan McDougle; Delegates Jennifer McClellan, Donald McEachin, Robert Orrock and Chris Peace; and Delegate-elect Manoli Loupassi to Children’s Hospital’s main location or Therapy Centers. Since January, Delegate Jimmie Massie and Secretary of the Commonwealth Katherine Hanley have toured the hospital. In addition, Delegate Kirk Cox met with Leslie G. Wyatt, President/CEO; Chris Broughton-Spruill, Executive Vice President, Children’s Hospital Foundation; and Kerry Kent Blumberg, Director of Legislative Relations, at his Colonial Heights office. 

For many of those who visited Children’s Hospital, it was their first time at the hospital and was an enlightening experience.

“Visiting Children’s Hospital opened my eyes to the wonderful work being done behind the scenes,” commented Delegate Peace. “I was particularly struck by the amount of equipment and staff needed per [Transitional Care Unit] resident.”

Raising awareness of the needs of the hospital’s patients and staff is an important goal of the visits. In addition, elected officials received information about the number of children from their district served by Children’s Hospital. Hospital staff and members of the Board of Trustees are committed to increasing the number of legislators and government officials who visit Children’s Hospital. The effort has been led by the Board’s Community Liaison Committee, which is chaired by Judy Collins.

New Applications and Innovations in Augmentative Communication Benefit Patients

Assistive technology has been an area of focus and growth at Children’s Hospital for more than 10 years. Designed for children, adolescents and adults, an Assistive Technology Evaluation/Training Lab and Smart Suite simulated home environment were renovated at the hospital’s main location in 2006. These facilities are equipped with the latest, most versatile technology in adaptive equipment for communication, daily living, computer access, mobility and positioning.

As part of this programming, Children’s Hospital has one of the largest collections of augmentative communication equipment in Virginia and a team of speech/language pathologists and occupational therapists with expertise in this area. Although augmentative communication equipment was previously used for children and adults who could not speak, it is now being used to enhance the communication an individual has and to promote development of further communication.

Read more about how advances in augmentative communication equipment benefit patients.

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