Sam's Children, Inc. making a difference!
An autographed baseball bat for a very special child!
News Release by Citgo:
Rocky Hill, Conn. – Oct. 24,
2013 – Local CITGO Retailer CCO, LLC partnered
with Sam’s Children, Inc. to raise $83,000 to
benefit families with ill children at its third
annual Sam’s Children Dinner at the Crowne Plaza
Hotel in Cromwell, Conn. on Sept.14, 2013. Sam’s
Children, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) organization
serving families with children struggling with
serious diseases. More than five hundred
children and adults, including CCO employees,
store operators, social workers, vendors, CITGO
representatives, friends and families
participated in the annual event.
Sam’s Children President
Charles DiFazio, Vice-President Hamid Bijari,
Treasurer Tracy Schroeder and Secretary Sara
Luzmoor organized an evening that featured a
host of speakers, both silent and live auctions
and prize drawings. Entertainment included a
Michael Jackson impersonator, a renowned concert
pianist and a singing duo. For the kids in
attendance there was a face painter, magician,
hand henna painter, a photo booth and a balloon
artist.
“When parents have a child
suffering from a serious condition, the
financial stress from non-medical expenses is an
added weight to the already difficult medical
situation. Driving to medical facilities, paying
for gas and parking, food, rent, utility bills,
clothing, cribs, beds, etc. in addition to
medical equipment expenses and hospital bills,
can be unbearable for some families. At Sam’s
Children, we’re able to step in and help with
those expenses,” said Tracy Schroeder, treasurer
for Sam’s Children, Inc. “For example, we often
supply gasoline gift cards, a month of free
parking or a month of free lunches at the
hospital where the child is being treated.”
Recent Givings
- Paid the first month’s rent for a single mom with a baby born prematurely, suffering from severe cerebral palsy, and a feeding disorder that requires the child being fed through a gastrostomy tube
-
We provided a positioner chair specially built for an eight year old boy who has severe feeding disorder wherein food intake is very difficult. The positioner chair helps the boy remain in a position to assist him in swallowing and mouth, lip and tongue control.
- Purchased a refrigerator for a family where the mom had to quit her job to take care of a child who has cerebral palsy and chromosomal defects still being diagnosed. The father was hurt on the job and cannot work. The refrigerator is needed for the child’s medications and formulas as well as food protection
-
Supplied a laptop computer with programs for a 16 year old boy who is wheelchair bound to help him write music and express himself confidently
- Purchased a bed for a young girl with spina bifida having many surgeries on her back
- On request of the mother, we furnished 1500 diapers for premature twins who spent several months in NICU, have trouble growing and feeding and must now wear breathing monitors.
- Provided a crib and dresser for a four month old child who had operations to have her atresia and TE Fistula Repaired
- Paid for two children with moderate retardation and reactive attachment disorder to participate in the "I Can Bike Program" in West Hartford, CT. The program teaches children with special needs to ride conventional two wheel bicycles to help them gain assurance and self-reliance
- Provided payment for a membership at a local YMCA for a young man who had a hypothalmic tumor and was treated with chemotherapy and radiation in order to help him with body strengthening
- Purchased a 10-foot portable wheelchair ramp for a child with cerebral palsy suffering from seizures who is visually and hearing impaired
- Made funds available for clothing for an 11 year old patient with type 1 diabetes who had no clothes or shoes
- Paid a heating bill for a family with a 16 year old child being treated for lymphoma
- Purchased a Kindle Fire for an extremely intelligent teen with spastic quadraplegia and severe neuromuscular scoliosis having a lengthy hospital stay
- Paid for one month of daycare service for a 1 year old child who has Down Syndrome, Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy, and Epilepsy
- Paid for lunch daily for a month for a parent visiting child in hospital every day
- Provided a gasoline gift card, department store gift care and paid for a month of parking for a family with a premature child having to stay at the hospital after birth because of respiratory problems, and being unable to take a bottle on its own. Also purchased a complete crib set and mattress for the child
- Paid for gift card at department store and purchased 2 months’ supply of diapers for a family with a child with seizures and unable to control urine or feces voluntarily.
- Provided a department store gift card and purchased crib and mattress for a child born with several physical defects and using a G-Tube
- Paid for Utility bill and phone bill for a family with a child combatting acute leukemia.
- Contributed to the purchase of and installation of a wheel chair lift on a van for a family with a child suffering Hydrosephales with 3 shunts.
- Bought an iPad for a seven year-old who is non-verbal in order that he communicate with parents and others.
- Purchased heating oil for family with a child in need of frequent hospitalizations.
- Paid for an airline ticket so that a mother could return to her out of state home in order to attend funerals of 2 brothers killed in a car accident while her son was undergoing multiple operations in New England.
- Contributed to funeral costs for a nine-year old boy who had suffered from Cerebral Palsy.
- Provided gift cards for food and gasoline for a family whose daughter has been hospitalized since birth
- Arranged for ambulance transportation, over three days, for a child with renal disease and in need of a dialysis and a kidney transplant
- Assisted a family with a child battling cancer to pay for utility bills
- A 9 year-old boy with autism who cannot speak was found by his therapists to be uniquely gifted in computers. They experimented with an iPad using special communication software. We purchased an iPad for him to help him communicate with his family
- The family of a child with acute leukemia needed help with transportation expenses to medical facilities for the consolidation phase of treatment. Gasoline gift cards were provided
- Family of child with spinal issues required help in traveling to Duke University in Durham, North Carolina for studies as part of a yearly review of medical progress. Funds were made available for motel costs
- Payment of telephone bill and electric utility bill for family with child with type 1 diabetes who is insulin dependent
- Gift certificates for gasoline, food, and clothing for family with a 2 month old baby born at 29 weeks and suffering frequent seizures and having a guarded prognosis
- Purchased a mattress, box spring and metal frame for a child with scoliosis who was scheduled to undergo a posterior spinal instrumentation and fusion
- Paid for dance shoes/dance outfits and dance lessons for 2 sisters, age 4 and 5 with Pervasive Developmental Disorder on the Autism spectrum having developmental delays, to help them in the area of motor control, motor growth and socialization.
- Gift Certificate for 3 months supply of adult diapers for a 15 year old boy suffering from Cerebral Palsy
- Paid for the expenses for automobile emissions test, automobile registration fee, and gasoline gift card for mother with a 3 year old boy who must travel to Hartford, East Hartford, Glastonbury, Torrington and Farmington for emergency tests and treatment for her son who is being treated for obesity, hypertension and sleep apnea
- For family with a son who is spastic quadriplegic with cerebral palsy and mental retardation,, who is legally blind with cognitive limitations due to chromosome disorder, lumbar soliosis and peridontal disease, paid for telephone bill, electric bill, parking at Connecticut Children's Hospital and a gift certificate for food
- Gift certificate for family with child born prematurely with chronic lung disease, being trached and vented, for food and baby clothing
- Gasoline Gift Card for a family traveling regularly to hospital for chemotherapy treatment for their 2 year old son
- Provided for travel and hotel expenses for a mother while her young daughter was undergoing surgery
- Paid for wheelchair ramp repair for a disabled 17-year old boy with Hunter syndrome, seizure disorder, asthma, reflux and developmental delay
- Paid for gasoline cards for a family who frequently traveled to the hospital to be with their son who is battling leukemia
- Provided for repairs for a ramp in use by a child in a wheelchair
- Paid for grocery gift cards for a family with a child fighting leukemia
- Provided an air conditioner unit for a family with a child battling Cerebral Palsy and seizure disorder
- Paid for the hotel stay for a child battling pancreatic cancer who was visiting a hospital for chemotherapy
- Paid for the utility bill for a family with a child inflicted with cancer
- Purchasing all milk deliveries for approximately 23 children at Ronald McDonald House in Springfield, MA on an on-going basis
- Presented a stroller, portable baby swing, and playard to a family with a child suffering from chronic lung disease, necrosis and retinopathy, who is going home after 8 months in the hospital.
- Presented a gift card for gasoline and a gift card for groceries to a family with a child undergoing chemotherapy for leukemia every day.
- Delivered a month's supply of juice and water for the families of Ronald McDonald House in New Haven, CT and Ronald McDonald House in Springfield, MA.
- Paid one month's rent for a family with a child fighting cancer
- Purchased a weighted comfort blanket for a child with autism
- Paid electric bill for a family with a child on a respirator
- Donated IV Buggies to Connecticut Children's Medical Center and Yale New Haven Children's Hospital
- Paid for rental of sytonizer machine for a child
with a sensory disorder
