$100,000 donation will help children battling cancer

From ball gowns to bedside care, Dayton Children’s receives $100,000 from the Gala of Hope celebration that will be used to improve the lives of cancer patients.

The big gift came in a big package – Gala of Hope hosts Bob and Barbara Mills gave Dayton Children’s president and CEO, Deborah Feldman, a giant check for $75,000 in the Mills Family Lounge in the hospitals cancer unit today.  The $25,000 balance will support Together We Fight, the foundation created by the families of Ally Barnett and Caulin Booher. Both children successfully battled leukemia at Dayton Children’s.

The Gala of Hope has been called the premier philanthropic social event for the entire Miami Valley.  Held every two years, the goal is to make a difference in the community.  This year’s event hosted over 700 people at the Mill’s home and raised $1.2 million. Dayton Children’s clinical staff and Women’s Board volunteered to help at the event. 

“It was important to us this year to make sure all the money we raised stayed in the area, to take care of our children, our families, our community,” says Bob Mills, founder of the Gala of Hope Foundation.  “We wanted to help take care of children fighting cancer and their families.  Many times one parent has to quit working to take care of the child and needs some financial help.  We also wanted to have funds available for future cancer research.”

The Mill’s know first-hand the difficulties families face and the importance of quality care close to home.  Their granddaughter, Ally, spent 843 days battling cancer at Dayton Children’s. The family purchased the hospital’s very first vein viewer in 2007. The piece of equipment allows the nurse to find the best location for needle placement and to avoid unnecessary sticks. That is an incredible comfort to the child with cancer who typically has to undergo a number of procedures, whether it be for drawing blood, chemotherapy or IV therapy.  With this donation, Dayton Children’s will be able to buy two more vein viewers.

“This support is crucial,” says Feldman. “This donation will help buy the items our patients and families need to be comfortable through their treatment here.  They are the little things that make a big difference.”

One of the items that will make a big impact is a rocking chair.  “Rocking not only soothes a young cancer patient while getting the treatments, it also comforts mom and dad to keep their baby close,” says Kate Barrett, BSN, RN, CPON, sickle cell nurse coordinator in the hematology/oncology unit.  “Tables that slide over the bed are also needed in our infusion rooms.  Since cancer patients often have to stay in one place for a long time, the tables allow them to eat, do homework or craft activities.”  With this donation, Dayton Children’s is able to buy three rockers and nine overbed tables.

Other items that will be purchased with this donation are a recumbent bike, MRI Goggles, distraction devices and devices that help improve motor, cognitive and sensory skills.

For more information, contact: 
Stacy Porter 
Communcations specialist 
Phone: 937-641-3666 
porters@childrensdayton.org

Emmett Broxson, Jr., MD, Barbara Mills, Deborah Feldman, Bob Mills, Jena Pado, John Kopilchack