Dedicated to easing the burdens of
children with serious illnesses and
their families, The Michael Magro
Foundation continues to demonstrate
their extraordinary commitment to
Winthrop-University Hospital and its
young patients.
The Michael Magro Foundation was
established by Terrie and Paul Magro in
honor of their son Michael Magro, who
they lost to leukemia in 2004. Since its
inception in 2005, the Foundation has
raised more than $300,000 in its ongoing
crusade against pediatric cancer,
enabling it to generously support young
patients and their families at Winthrop
in many ways.
Recently, the Foundation hosted
its hallmark gourmet event – the
annual Evening of Tasting & Giving –
which was a terrific success, raising
$80,000 for pediatric cancer patients
and their families.
The Michael Magro Foundation also
shares Winthrop’s philosophy of minimizing
anxiety for pediatric patients,
and that one way to do so is through the
creation of beautiful, artfully decorated
child-friendly environments for clinical
care. The Foundation has underwritten
a penguin-themed room at Winthrop’s
Cancer Center for Kids (CCFK)
Outpatient Center; a custom sky-scape
mural on the ceiling of the Pediatric
Endoscopy Suite at Winthrop; several
murals in the Winthrop Pediatric
Specialty Center and the Hagedorn
Pediatric Inpatient Center; and a junglethemed
mural in one of the rooms
within the Hospital’s dedicated Pediatric
Emergency Unit – a project proposed by
pediatric emergency medicine physician
Datev Pidedjian, MD, and Winthrop’s
Child Life Program. All of the beautiful
murals were hand-painted by talented
local artists, Sal and Nancy Mocca.
Pictured (l.-r.) are Warren Rosenfeld, MD, Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at Winthrop;
Ed Chewens, Administrative Director of the Children’s Medical Center at Winthrop; Nicole
Almeida, MS, CCLS, Director of the Child Life Program at Winthrop; Terrie Magro of the Michael
Magro Foundation; and artists Sal and Nancy Mocca in front of the jungle-themed mural, which
provides a child-friendly environment for young patients in the Pediatric Emergency Unit.
The Foundation is also dedicated to
helping families through the financial
hardships associated with pediatric illness.
Its Life Essentials Program
provides families with restaurant and
supermarket gift cards and assists with
pharmacy co-payments and various
other out-of-pocket expenses. The
Foundation has also made generous
contributions to Winthrop’s Pediatric
Primary Care Office in Hempstead, providing
school supplies and gift cards so
that families can shop at local stores.
The Pediatric Cardiology
Outpatient Office and the Children’s
Kidney & Bladder Program at Winthrop
have also been the grateful recipients
of the Foundation’s goodwill. The
Pediatric Cardiology Outpatient Office
recently received two new televisions
and games for their young patients and
the Children’s Kidney & Bladder
Program received a new state-of-thescience
Lx500 microscope thanks to
the Foundation. And, at the CCFK, the
Foundation’s unwavering support of
Project SOAR (School re-entry and
Ongoing Academic Resources) has
been instrumental in assisting numerous
CCFK patients over the years.
|
Vol. 20, No. 1
Winter/Spring 2010
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|
