Little Giraffe Foundation Names 2016 NICU Support Grant Recipients

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Little Giraffe Foundation

Nov 10, 2016, 15:10 ET

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) November 10, 2016 -- Little Giraffe Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to funding neonatal research and supporting families and premature babies in the NICU, announces today the 18 recipients of the foundation’s 2016 NICU Support Grants.

“After careful deliberation, our board of directors is pleased to share that we have identified this year’s awarded set of grant candidates, which we have determined will make the best use of their requested funds to help support the families and patients of their medical facility’s NICU unit,” said Amanda Santoro, co-founder and president of the Little Giraffe Foundation.

The details of this year’s Little Giraffe Foundation’s NICU Support Grant recipients are as follows:

  • Lafayette General Foundation of Lafayette, LA -- to receive $1,000 towards three mamaRoo swings, two rocking chairs, as well as training materials for the “NICU Rocks” Program at Lafayette General Medical Center
  • Baptist Health Foundation of Little Rock, AR -- to receive $1,000 towards free hotel stays for families with NICU patients admitted to the Baptist Health Medical Center
  • Jersey Shore University Medical Center Foundation of Wall Township, NJ -- to receive $1,000 towards gas gift cards to be given to underprivileged NICU families for their travels to and from the medical center
  • The Tiny Miracles Foundation of Darien, CT -- to receive $1,000 toward stocking food pantries that supply food and refreshments at Connecticut hospitals in Stamford, Norwalk, Bridgeport, and Danbury
  • Southeastern Regional Medical Center of Lumberton, NC -- to receive $1,000 towards a digital camera, a photo printer, and printing materials for its Family Record and Memory Exchange Program to provide NICU families a keepsake of recorded memories of their loves ones during their stays in the NICU unit
  • Lutheran General Hospital of Park Ridge, IL -- to receive $1,000 towards gas gift cards to be given to underprivileged NICU families for their travels to and from the hospital
  • Pediatrix Medical Group of Las Vegas, NV -- to receive $1,000 towards scrapbooking supplies, as well as snacks and refreshments for its NICU Family Support Social Activities: Preemie Parent Empowerment Group
  • Franciscan Alliance Foundation of Indianapolis, IN -- to receive $1,000 towards gas gift cards to be given to underprivileged NICU families at Franciscan St. Francis Health-Indianapolis
  • St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center of Hartford, CT -- to receive $500 towards books, videos, posters, and art materials for the NICU Sibling Resource Room to allow NICU patients’ siblings to express themselves (e.g. to draw, journal, write poetry and scrapbook)
  • Good Samaritan Hospital of Los Angeles, CA -- to receive $1,000 towards 7-day bus passes, grocery store gift cards, and food vouchers for the hospital’s cafeteria for NICU mothers and families in need
  • Coney Island Hospital of Brooklyn, NY -- to receive $750 towards 3 mamaRoo swings for their NICU mamaRoo Program
  • Kosair Children’s Hospital of Louisville, KY -- to receive $500 toward gas and restaurant gift cards to be distributed to NICU families in need by the hospital’s Gas Card and Restaurant Gift Card Program
  • Edward Hospital of Naperville, IL -- to receive $500 for their Beads of Courage Program
  • Loyola University Medical Center of Maywood, IL -- to receive $350 towards memory cards for cameras to give to families who have lost a NICU baby, fleece to make hearts to be used as sniff cloths, ink pads, and paper for bedside announcement cards
  • Franciscan Alliance Foundation, IN -- to receive $500 towards insulated breastmilk cooler bags, gas cards for NICU transfers, and NICU journals for babies less than the gestational age of 34 weeks for Franciscan St. Anthony Health of Crown Point
  • St. Francis Medical Center of Monroe, LA -- to receive $1,000 toward gift cards from Walmart to be distributed by the center’s Gas Card Program for NICU families in need
  • Cook Children’s Health Foundation of Fort Worth,TX -- to receive $1,000 to purchase sleep belts to aid in kangaroo care in the NICU for their Kangaroo Care Program
  • Aultman Hospital of Canton, OH -- to receive $1,000 to purchase donor milk from Mother’s Milk Bank in Columbus, OH for Aultman’s NICU babies

“The Little Giraffe Foundation is proud to help fund these esteemed organizations and all they do for NICU patients and their families,” said Mike Santoro, co-founder and executive director of the Little Giraffe Foundation. “We’d like to thank all of those who have contributed to the Little Giraffe Foundation in the last year, with monetary donations and their volunteered time, to help make giving these deserving grants possible. We are hopeful for another year of generosity and dedication from our support network to be able to give even greater support to these medical centers in need in 2017.”

To learn more about the Little Giraffe Foundation and its efforts to aid in NICU patient and family support, as well as neonatal medical research, please visit: http://www.littlegiraffefoundation.org/ and follow the organization’s news on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/LittleGiraffeFoundation.

About the Little Giraffe Foundation

The Little Giraffe Foundation is national 501(c)(3) non-profit based in Chicago dedicated to supporting parents and patients of the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Since 2011 the foundation has delivered more than 8,500 holiday gift bags and funded over $135,000 in neonatal medical research and NICU support grants.

Mike Santoro, Little Giraffe Foundation, +1 847-710-3558, [email protected]