Hannalee, center, with her parents and others at the donation drop-off event. Photo courtesy of Ronald McDonald House Long Island
A 13-year-old from Ronkonkoma delivered a truckload of donated toys, home essentials and personal care items to the Ronald McDonald House Long Island Family Room, located inside Stony Brook Children’s Hospital, here today, as part of her mitzvah project for her upcoming Bat Mitzvah.
Hannalee Wilbur, accompanied by her parents, Adam and Cara, delivered specially wrapped cheer baskets to be given to parents of a child staying in the hospital for emergency or ongoing treatment. Hannalee collected the items by creating an Amazon wish list and asking family and friends to donate and spread the word. It wasn’t long, she says, before the packages started arriving at her door.
“It’s a good deed, and it makes you feel good about yourself,” said Hannalee. “It’s like a train; it keeps going on and on.”
Hannalee chose Ronald McDonald House Long Island as the beneficiary of her mitzvah project after seeing her older cousins, Jacqueline and Jared, stay at the Ronald McDonald House in New Hyde Park. At the same time, their daughter, Scottie, underwent life-saving surgery related to her spina bifida diagnosis several years ago.
“Hannalee’s donation will help hundreds of families by providing things that make people feel at home and cared for,” said Cassandra Basile with Ronald McDonald House. “Our Family Rooms give parents a quiet and comforting space to take a break from the challenges of being at a hospitalized child’s bedside and find the support they need to take care of their families.”
The Ronald McDonald House Long Island Family Room program extends comfort and support directly into the hospital. Located inside partner hospitals at Stony Brook and at Cohen Children’s Hospital in New Hyde Park, Family Rooms offer parents and caregivers a calm space where they can take a break, have a snack or cup of coffee, connect with support services and experience a small sense of normalcy during an incredibly stressful time. The program is especially important for families whose children are receiving intensive or ongoing medical care, including newborns in the NICU and children recovering from serious illness, surgery, or other medical crises.
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