From Maddi's Closet

Holiday Gift Wrapping Fundraiser at Barnes & Noble

donna — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:12:19 +0000

Maddi’s Closet volunteers once again roll up their sleeves and go to work in an effort to raise money for children with cancer!

Free gift wrapping is offered at the Barnes & Noble Bookstore located at 1923 W. Malvern in Fullerton. Maddi’s Closet volunteers gift wrap the gifts purchased and all customer donations made during our staffin time will be given to Maddi’s Closet. We staff the gift wrapping table on the following dates:

December13th from 9:00 a.m. to 1:oo p.m.

December 12th from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

December 18th from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

December 23rd from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Thank you for participating in this event!

Happy holidays – Have fun shopping – and look for us!

Junior Hi students offer help to Maddi’s Closet Book Drive

donna — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 19:29:07 +0000

As a part of the Serve Week-end Project at Whittier Community Church, the Junior Hi students sponsored a car wash benefiting From Maddi’s Closet with the Maddi’s Closet Books for Patients project. Fun was had by all as students, group sponsors, and families jumped in to help! Thank you!

Can you help with this project?

donna — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 18:22:53 +0000

CHLA works hard to make sure the newly diagnosed children and their families are informed and prepared for the process they will be going through by providing them with a copy of the Childhood Brain and Spinal Cord Tumors: A Guide for Families,Friends and Caregivers written by Authors: Tania Shiminski-Mayer; Patsy McGuire Cullen, Maria Sansalone

The paperback book costs around $30.00 each. From personal experience, we can tell you that the book helped us through our experience, answering many questions along the way.

If you would like to help with this project, please mail a donation to us. Or, you can pick up a copy and mail that to us. We have been able to take 30 copies to CHLA. We need to provide at least 30 more. Let us know if you have any questions.

Maddi’s Closet partners with Ride For Kids

donna — Sat, 10 May 2008 17:42:43 +0000

Raising public awareness
May 5, 2008
LOS ANGELES, TRIANGLE RIDE FOR KIDS® EVENTS COMBINE TO RAISE $401,000
http://www.rideforkids.org/
10-year-old Mark Holmes rode in the Los Angeles event in memory of his sister, Maddie.
Motorcyclists in southern California and eastern North Carolina teamed up over the weekend to raise more than $401,000 for childhood brain tumor research. Both Ride for Kids® events set individual fundraising records for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation.
Los Angeles revs up for the kids
The 17th annual Los Angeles Ride for Kids® raised $263,192, topping its previous record by more than $16,000.
The 900 participants met at American Honda Motor Co. headquarters on a bright, sunny morning before the riders and their patient family passengers departed on a coastline-hugging tour of Rancho Palos Verdes.
Fifteen Ride for Kids “stars” were honored during the Celebration of Life program. Younger patients like Regina and Alex, 8, joined older survivors like Amanda, 21, on stage to give fundraisers a glimpse into what it’s like to fight a brain tumor.
“I have the best job today,” said Kathy Riley, mother of 20-year-old Peter. “I get to thank all of you riders who have been there for us.”
Dr. Anat Erdreich-Epstein and Dr. Jonathan Finlay of the PBTF Institute at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles spoke about the importance of brain tumor research.
Bill Boyer of Lomita was the event’s top individual fundraiser with $38,826. Members of the Honda Employees’ Rider’s Club turned in $54,895 to earn the top chapter/club spot, and the top motorcycle business was L.A. Honda with $21,867 in customer donations.
The grand prize, a new Honda motorcycle, went to Kelly Byrne of North Hollywood.
Huge thanks went to L.A.’s hardworking task force, led by visitation leader Louis Vanderveen, Jeniffer McMullen, Steven Squire and Brian Tinkler. Together with their event volunteers, they made this a ride to remember.

Videos for Heroes

donna — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 16:09:11 +0000

The Videos for Heroes Project, headed by Maddi’s 12 year-old cousin, Nick Picarella, was a wonderful success! He delivered over $1,600.00 worth of new or gently used video systems and games to Childrens Hospital 4th Floor, establishing a game library for the little patients in 2007. Our hats off to Nick!

ANYONE wanting to add to the video game system and game library at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles can donate new or gently used systems and under age 12 appropriate games by mailing to:

From Maddi’s Closet
% Nick Picarella Games for Heroes Project
15519 Surrey Lane
La Mirada, California 90638

Donations by check that you wish to be used specifically for this program should be noted on the check. If you have any questions, please call us (562) 943-3684

Welcome to Medical Advisory Board Members

donna — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 16:01:35 +0000

From Maddi’s Closet
Medical Advisory Board
Director, Dr. Jonathan Finlay, Neuro-Oncology
Childrens Hospital Los Angeles

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Moise Danielpour, M.D., Pediatric Neurosurgery

Childrens Hospital Los Angeles
Jonathan Finlay, M.D., Neuro-Oncology
Barbara Britt, RN, MSN, Pediatric Oncology nursing
Karla Garcia, LCSW, Neuro-Oncology social worker
Sharon O’Neil, Ph.D., Pediatric Neuro-psychology

Childrens Hospital of Orange County
Lennie Sender, M.D.,Pediatric Oncology

City of Hope National Medical Center
Michael Jensen, M.D., Pediatric Oncology

Cottage Hospital, Santa Barbara
Daniel Greenfield, M.D., Pediatric Oncology

Kaiser Permanente-Sunset
Robert Cooper, M.D., Pediatric Oncology

Loma Linda University Medical Center
Albert Kheradpour, M.D., Pediatric Oncology

Miller Children’s Hospital/Long Beach Memorial Hospital
Jerry Finklestein, M.D., Pediatric Oncology
Joel Cherlow, M.D., Radiation Oncology

UCLA/ Mattel Childrens Hospital
Joseph Lasky, M.D., Pediatric Oncology

UC-San Diego
Rich Kadota, M.D., Pediatric Oncology

2009 Calendar of Events at CHLA

donna — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 18:51:35 +0000

From Maddi’s Closet depends on volunteers and donations to make each of the following events a success. The patients, parents, and staff definitely look forward to the visits. Our commitment is to provide for 100 patients with each activity. This keeps us pretty busy!

January – Break after holidays

Ongoing Special Needs & Donations

February – Valentines celebration with chocolates and and cards

March – Maddi’s Special Coloring Pages (crayons and colored penscils)

April – Cutest Lil Bear Puppet Show

May – Books, books, lots of books

June – 18th Annual Celebrate Life Event – Maddi’s Closet Booth
Maddi’s Western Hoedown

July – Chocolate for Moms

August – RN and Staff Appreciation
(Card making) – Cookies and coloring supplies

September – School Daze Craze

October – Theme Event – Take me out to the ballgame”! – Peanuts, Cracker Jacks, Baseball Cards, Baseball Hats, Pictures of Dodger and Angels Baseball players

November – 5th Annual Mad Dash Community Friend Walk
December – Holiday Break. Respond to special needs and donations