Monkey Around Day
In an effort to reach out to individual children who have been through something extraordinary resulting in a longer term stay in the hospital, the Luke Hadley Foundation is very excited to begin a new program - the Monkey Around Day! The goal of a Monkey Around Day is to provide a patient with a special day designed around his or her personal request. Patients are nominated for a Monkey Around Day by hospital personnel. Once nominated, the child is asked what they would want to make a day extra special for them. Then, the Luke Hadley Foundation makes that day a reality!
Nancy's Monkey Around Day
Our second Monkey Around Day in September of 2010 was another huge success. Our special patient was Nancy. Nancy is a 15-year-old patient at The Children's Home & Lemieux Family Center who asked to have a special day that focused on her favorite thing - Fashion Design. It just so happens that Kiya Tomlin, wife of Pittsburgh Steelers Coach Mike Tomlin, is a fashion designer. She very generously donated her time and spent the day with Nancy teaching her about fashion design. They had an amazing day that included Kiya presenting Nancy with her very own Singer Sewing Machine, the Luke Hadley Foundation giving Nancy her own laptop, and Josephine Oria donating a fashion design kit.
Sa'Maya's Monkey Around Day
On May 18, 2010 the Luke Hadley Foundation granted its very first Monkey Around Day to a four-year-old girl, Sa'Maya. Sa'Maya had been in the hospital since November, 2009 recovering from a transplant surgery. The amazing staff at The Children's Home & Lemieux Family Center nominated Sa'Maya for a Monkey Around Day. When asked what would make a day special for her, she quickly said, "I'd like to be a Princess!" So, we went to work with the staff at The Children's Home and made her special day a reality. Enjoy these wonderful pictures of Princess Sa'Maya and follow the link below to watch the news coverage from Dave Crawley at KDKA. Sa'Maya's story comes up after a 10 second commercial. Enjoy!
