Newsletters

All Valerie Fund Centers:

• The Social Workers Quarterly Consortium was held at Make-A-Wish New Jersey on Thursday, March 10th where issues were raised and discussed on CHOP Voorhees Hydroxyurea/Sickle Cell Program, night hours, support/educational nights/events, Hole in the Wall, and Camp Happy Times. The next Consortium will be held in the early Fall at New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital Columbia University.

New York Presbyterian:

• The Center is offering an SAT prep class for high school students
which includes all materials, teachers and food for free.

• They are actively using the Parent Assessment Tool to screen
parents, as well as quality of life measures for children at diagnosis,
to identify those who would benefit from increased support early
in the treatment process.

• They are offering The Valerie Fund families private tours of the
Metropolitan Museum to observe, draw, and discuss the art.

Morristown:

• VGo Celebration: Patients and families who have used a VGo
robot or schools where a VGo has been present, and those who
gave donations to The Valerie Fund and Morristown Medical
Center, were treated to a celebration of the VGo, Monday,
April 4th.

• 3rd Annual Pizza Party: Morristown and Overlook Medical
Centers invited patients of the Valerie Fund Children's Centers
and their parents to the 3rd annual Pizza Party to meet up with
old friends, make new friends, share stories, and inspiration.
This event was presented by Joann Spera, Educational Liaison,
and Cathy Cerutti, Social Worker at the Morristown Valerie
Fund Center.

Monmouth:

• Monmouth welcomes Elizabeth Walter, LSW, as the new Social
Worker and Jamie Gecz, CCLS as the new Child Life Specialist at
The Valerie Fund Center at Monmouth Medical Center.

Newark:

• Second Annual Scholarship Information Breakfast was held on
Saturday, January 30 at Newark Beth Israel. Suzanne Goldberg,
Educational Liaison at Newark held this breakfast for all college
seniors and parents. She distributed packets of diagnosis-specific
materials containing information on the many scholarships
available. This event was well received with with over with over 40
high school and college age patients attending.

• Francesca Cangeloso, MPS, ATR-BC, Art Therapist at Newark Beth
Israel's Valerie Fund Center is currently working on a permanent
art installation for the inpatient units and will include many
Valerie Fund patients' artwork.

CHOP:

• Say Yes 2 Hydroxyurea. The first Monday of every month is
Family Night for Sickle Cell families (including scheduled Lab &
MD office visits, light supper, and fun activities). The Voorhees lab
is open late every Monday until 4:30pm. This program has been
well attended since children don't need to miss school to get to
the clinic.