07/22/09

Introducing Christopher's Caterpillars

As of Jan. 2009:

We are no longer doing the below activities. We tend to try to pay the love that was given to us by activities with do with Life with Cancer at Fairfax Hospital, and repaying random acts of kindness that were given to us. My great dream would be to reinstate all these activities listed. One day I will, perhaps, when I win the lottery I will be able to start an organization related to the needs of children and their parents during illness. This would be my greatest dream....

Christopher's caterpillars is the name given to the organization that honors Christopher and his struggle. Christopher's caterpillars incorporates 4 components:

   Christopher's Kurls

   Christopher's Critter's

   Laptops with Love

                        Gift of Life

While at Johns Hopkins, we had angels came from every direction to comfort us and care for us.  The outpouring of donations for Christopher's Medical Fund, meals delivered to us, fund raisers held to help with expenses. The most important blessing we had was our friends and family holding our hands and listening during our darkest hours.  Without your support we could never have made it.  So this is why we want to offer other families the same opportunity to feel the love and kindness that we received. We thought this would be a wonderful way to Pay It Forward!

With all the caterpillars hard at work, the butterfly will burst forth and create beauty in the world.

Christopher's Kurls

During our journey through chemotherapy and bone marrow transplant Christopher lost all of his beautiful blond hair, it marked the first of many devastating moments.  We held his  precious hair in our hands and quickly realized that we wanted to keep it.  But we had no place to put it.....  We ended up using a Ziploc bag we found. Some families made hairballs with the hair and had nothing to put the strands in. Loosing a person's hair in a medical crisis is heartbreaking, and the hair should be put in a dignified, beautiful, place to be kept by the child or parent.

The idea behind Christopher's Kurls is to provide the local hospitals with small decorative boxes that can be given to families that have children receiving chemotherapy.  They can use the boxes to collect the child's hair as it falls out.  This small gift can provide some comfort in dealing with the loss of their child's hair.

If you would like to donate small boxes in memory of Christopher you can either mail them to us at our home address or offer them to your local hospital.  We give boxes to Johns Hopkins, and I hope to set up a chapter at Fairfax Hospital. The boxes vary in size and design. The younger children usually choose smaller boxes, The teenagers choose larger boxes for longer hair.  These boxes can be purchased or handmade. Please e-mail us at hokiern@m3tc.com for more information about how to distribute Christopher's Kurls boxes.

Christopher's Critter's

For six month's at Johns Hopkins it was a rare occasion that we ate something besides cafeteria food or take out.  On those rare occasions a family, club, or support group would bring a home cooked meal to the Children's House for the families staying there.  We were so grateful to these people for taking an evening out of their lives to provide a meal for us.  We would eat like it was our last meal and wouldn't leave a single crumb.

In response to this outpouring of love we would like to provide a meal for families at the Ronald McDonald house at Inova Fairfax Hospital.  Based on the number of families staying in the house the meals could be quite large.  The goal would be to provide a meal once a month from a group of people so the burden wouldn't be to large on one individual.  The food would need to be prepared and served to the families at the house.

If you would be interested in helping out please contact hokiern@m3tc.com for scheduling and more information.

Laptops with Love

We met many extraordinary children and parents while at John's Hopkins. Being in the hospital is so isolating, and many parents and kids wished for laptops to keep in communication with the outside world. We met a special teenager whose wish was for a laptop so that she could stay in contact with her friends, play games and keep up with school work while she was cooped up in bed.   The occupational therapists and social workers also told us that a laptop would be a great way to help her rehabilitate both her body and spirit.  Unfortunately, she never got her wish for a computer.

So here is your chance to offer a teenage child in the hospital a laptop.  The donation is tax deductible and a receipt will be given to you for the fair market value of the computer. (Perfect excuse to donate your company's old laptops)!

We will only accept laptops that are less that five years old and in working condition.  These laptops will than be donated to the local hospitals for use by the children while they are inpatient.  We will work with the hospital to provide the children Internet access so they can e-mail friends, do school work and play games.  Before donating your laptop please contact Joe at jpmigliozzi@m3tc.com to coordinate pick up.

The Gift of Life

While Christopher was inpatient he must have received a blood or platelet transfusion every other day.  Over the six month period he must have consumed about 40 - 60 units of blood products.  Each unit of blood received was donated by people who wanted to give the gift of life. Additionally, working in the Operating Room a patient could sometimes take up to 50 units of blood products  during a trauma or liver transplant.

Donating blood is fast and easy.  There are blood donor centers in Fairfax county were you can  donate blood or blood products (Platelets, Plasma, etc.).  Follow this link to find the one closest to you:

http://www.inova.org/get-involved/blood-donor-services/how-to-donate--blood/index.jsp

I donated blood this past week because I felt that it was the only thing I knew how to do to give back to all those people that helped Christopher.  Please think about taking an hour every few month's to provide another person the gift of life.

We had our first "Angels Blood Drive" and it was a huge success with 46 people donating blood!

Our second Angels Blood Drive was held in January 2006 and was extraordinary!

Christopher Migliozzi Memorial Fund

 At Christopher's funeral in lieu of flowers we asked people to send donations to the Christopher Migliozzi Memorial Fund at Centerville United Methodist Church. We are accepting donations of any size to be used for a special cause that will be revealed soon.  These donations are also tax deductible.

Christopher Migliozzi Memorial Fund

Centreville United Methodist Church

6400 Old Centreville Road

Centreville, VA 20121

Andrew's Toy Box

"Helping Sick Children Smile"

Andrew's Toybox was started in honor of our special angel friend Andrew Fimbel who battled Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Andrew's toybox provides special care package full of toys to chronically and terminally ill children to help put a smile on their face during a scary hospital stay.

 www.andrewstoybox.org

"Aunt Gina" Andrew's Mom, & Christopher

Fundraisers and Donations Held for Christopher

Sandwich Mania!!!!

A wonderful fundraiser for Christopher was held

Dec. 7 at Centreville United Methodist Church We are so grateful for everyone who donated their time, money and smiles!

The fundraiser was a huge success, people were lining up outside the door to get their sandwiches! Over 200 were sold, and the donations kept flowing in long after that! Many special thanks to the New Covenant Class for your continued meals, baby food, diapers and support.

Centreville United Methodist Church Congressional Care Fund

Fairfax Hospital Main Operating Room

Thank you for all the wonderful donations and support! You make me proud to be a nurse!

Northrop Gruman/Tasc

Thank you for your donation of PTO time for Joe

Matt  & Michelle Dates, Family & Friends

Thank you for always being there for us!

United Network for Organ Sharing

Thank you for giving the gift of life for so many people!

Kelly & Dave's E-Bay Auction

Thank you Kelly & Dave for your auction of e-bay and the proceeds going to Christopher's Memorial fund!

We want to thank all the wonderful angels who helped with donations, cards, care packages and love you have given us. You have changed our lives!