Children’s National Medical Center

Create Valentine’s Day cards for pediatric patients through Eliana’s Light

January 17, 2019

Join Beltway Bambinos and other members of the DC, Maryland, and Virginia communities in the 4th Annual Valentine’s Day Cards for Kids and Cookies for Caregivers initiative that Eliana’s Light is organizing.

Eliana’s Light is a local non-profit organization that supports families with children who have complex medical conditions by focusing on their whole health and well-being. They connect directly with families through customized gift bags, learning events, and online communications; advocate for and raise awareness on whole health, integrative, and integrated approaches to care; and exchange information and resources with caregivers, practitioners, and researchers. They help children and their caregivers feel better while they contribute to a whole health and family-centered approach to pediatrics. A big part of their work involves engaging community members in service projects that support these local families. Collaboratively, community members throughout our region come together to show they care. We hope you can join us!

WHAT: The Annual Valentine’s Day Cards for Kids & Cookies for Caregivers involves volunteers (of all ages) who make cards for children that will be in the hospital over Valentine’s Day. The initiative also includes making or sending in cookies for the caregivers who support these children. We want the recipients of both to know that members of their community are thinking of them and sending them best wishes. The cards are only for the kids, and should include uplifting messages. The cookies are only for the caregivers (due to the children’s specific dietary needs) and are from healthy-ish nut-free recipes. Some participating groups are only making cards, and some are only making cookies; don’t feel obligated to do both.

WHO: Eliana’s Light will pick up the cards and/or cookies from participating groups, and deliver them to staff at Children’s National Medical Center, Inova Children’s Hospital, HSC’s Pediatric Center, the Children’s Inn at NIH, and the Kennedy Krieger Institute. The staff members then disseminate the cards to patients and the cookies to their caregivers (i.e., parents and staff members). You are also welcome to drop them off after coordinating with Whitney; the heart, dedication and kindness behind Eliana’s Light.

HOW: Here are a few ways you can participate:

Organize a group of friends for a Valentine’s Day card and/or cookie making party at your house.

-If your group will be making cards, the following is some guidance for your consideration:
Hospital staff have cleared the following messages for inclusion in the Valentine’s Day cards: “You are loved”; “You are surrounded by love”; “I believe in you”; “You are strong and brave”; “I wish you the very best”; “You rock”; “I am thinking of you and sending you love”; “You inspire me”; “You are awesome”; “I hope you have a great day today”; “Be brave”; and “Always remember how awesome you are”. We welcome any way participating kids would like to sign their cards. For example, they can be signed, “First name, grade, school name”, or “X-grader, school name, city name”, or “X-grader, city name”. We’d love some kind of signature to personalize the cards.

-If your group will be making cookies, we’re especially looking for nut-free and low-sugar recipes that will give a tasty boost to caregivers.

Ask your child’s teacher if their class would be interested in making Valentine’s Day cards to support kids and caregivers who will be at these pediatric medical centers in our region. Teachers often discuss topics such as empathy, volunteering, and kindness with their participating students.
Donate any supplies you may have for making cards. We welcome red, white, and pink construction paper; glue sticks; stickers; and kid scissors. No glitter please.
Share your favorite nut-free, low-sugar, low-cost, and easy-to-make cookie recipes you think caregivers would enjoy.
Make a financial donation to help Eliana’s Light cover the cost of providing some card-making supplies to participating non-profit organizations

WHEN: If you’re interested in participating or supporting this initiative, please email your interest to both myself and Whitney and we will coordinate directly with you. We will need to collect all items by the end of the day on Sunday, Feb. 10th.

Thank you in advance; I was blown away last year by how many readers participated and shared this post. #Lovewins

Guest Post: Car Seat Safety Check Event + Stork Childbirth Education

February 26, 2018

This Guest Post is written by Flynn Millard O’Neill, founder of Stork Childbirth Education and a board certified Family Nurse Practitioner who has been practicing in the Washington D.C. area for nearly a decade. She is in private practice at Bloom OB/GYN seeing patients of all ages. Flynn’s goal in developing Stork Childbirth Education with her dear friend and partner, Lauren Gordon, was to provide accurate, high quality and collaborative prenatal education to all new parents. Stork Childbirth Education’s instructors and curriculum pull from our years of experience to ensure clients have access to the information prior to delivery and referrals for postpartum to ensure a comfortable recovery. Flynn is a provider for Maven Clinic, a telemedicine practice for women and participated in the Mary’s Center Perinatal Mental Health Champion grant, Train the Trainer, to increase the access to maternal mental health care providers in the D.C. metro area. In her spare time she teaches yoga and is a consultant for Glucose Mama, a gestational diabetes app currently in development. Flynn lives in Northwest D.C. with her son Charlie and husband Andrew.

What: Come join Stork Childbirth Education and Spring Valley Pediatrics this Spring to celebrate the third annual, Car Seat Safety Check. They have partnered with Safe Kids DC and Children’s National Medical Center for the past two years to have an amazing community event.

When: Sunday, April 15th, 2018 from 11:00am-2:00pm

Where: 4900 Massachussetts Ave NW (Upper parking lot off of 49th St NW)

Why: The goal is to have families join and get their car seats inspected. Whether you are expecting your first child (or have kids who are older), anyone can get a complimentary check from the knowledgeable staff.

Who: Safe Kids Worldwide is a nonprofit organization working to help families and communities keep kids safe from injuries. Sadly motor vehicle accidents are the number one cause of unintentional death for children ages 1-19. Almost half of these deaths involved kids who were unrestrained in the car. Thanks to Safe Kids Worldwide and improved car safety features, over 600,000 lives have been saved since 1960, when the first seat belts and airbags were developed. Back up cameras in your car can help reduce blind spots by 94%. Car seats when used properly and installed correctly reduce fatality by 71%.

Food trucks and local businesses will be present to entertain you. Arts and crafts by Little Graces Playgroup, Melissa Demple Photography, The Nanny Network and Hush Hush Little Baby are coming back again this year to join the fun.

To continue to keep your families safe, you should know Stork Childbirth Education, can do in home classes to fit your learning needs. Founded by Flynn O’Neill RN, NP and Lauren Gordon, WHNP, CNM, our mission is to educate local families and supply you with the knowledge to feel confident with your little ones.

Our class curriculum includes childbirth education, breastfeeding, baby care with CPR and American Heart Association Heartsaver or Basic Life Support Certifications (Spanish instruction is available). For your new nanny or au pair, or grandparents, who need a refresher, we can send our experienced staff of registered nurses or nurse practitioners to teach a small group in your home. We also have eight area offices we can teach your class at including Bloom OB/GYN, Shady Grove Fertility in DC, Arlington or Towson, Capital Women’s Care in Alexandria or Silver Spring.

We have been teaching since 2014 and wanted to deliver evidence based classes to our local parents. Our students feel more empowered and confident once having taken our classes. Find us on the MINDBODY app to register for a class or at our website www.StorkChildbirthEd.com. We have proudly been featured in Washington Parent and Doximity. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Yelp.

Create Valentine’s Day cards for patients at Children’s National Medical Center

January 23, 2018

(Photo: The Chirping Moms)

Join Beltway Bambinos, Bloom OB/GYN, Nanny Network, Spring Valley Pediatrics, and Stork Childbirth Education in the 3rd Annual Valentine’s Day Cards for Kids and Cookies for Caregivers initiative organized by Eliana’s Light.

Eliana’s Light is a local non-profit organization that supports integrative health for children with complex medical conditions and their caregivers through the provision of integrative care services. They focus on helping to reduce the stress, pain, fear, trauma, anxiety, and depression that many of these kids and their caregivers often experience. They want to improve the wellness and well-being of the entire family.

Kids and their caregivers are making cards for kids and cookies for caregivers who have to be in the hospital over Valentine’s Day. It’s a great opportunity to show the recipients others are thinking of them and sending them best wishes over the holiday. The cards are only for the kids and the cookies are only for the caregivers (due to the children’s specific dietary needs). The cookies should be healthy-ish nut-free recipes, and the cards will include uplifting messages. Some participating groups are only making cards, and some are only making cookies. You choose what works for you!

Eliana’s Light will pick up the cards and cookies from participating groups, and deliver them to staff at Children’s National Medical Center who will distribute them to patients and their caregivers.

Here are a few ways you can participate!

Organize a group of friends for a Valentine’s Day card and/or cookie making party at your house.*
Ask your child’s teacher if their class would be interested in making Valentine’s Day cards to support kids at Children’s National Medical Center. Teachers often discuss topics such as empathy, volunteering, and kindness with their participating students and this is a great way to connect with those topics. (See Beltway Bambinos’ Pinterest page if you need some ideas on easy to make cards and crafts.)
Donate any supplies you may have for making cards. We welcome red, white, and pink construction paper; glue sticks; stickers; and kid scissors. No glitter please 🙂
Make a financial donation to help Eliana’s Light cover the cost of providing some card-making supplies to participating non-profit organizations.

*If your group will be making cards, the following is some guidance for your consideration:
Hospital staff have cleared the following messages for inclusion in the Valentine’s Day cards: “You are loved”; “You are surrounded by love”; “I believe in you”; “You are strong and brave”; “I wish you the very best”; “You rock”; “I am thinking of you and sending you love”; “You inspire me”; “You are awesome”; “I hope you have a great day today”; “Be brave”; and “Always remember how awesome you are”.We welcome any way participating kids would like to sign their cards. For example, they can be signed, “First name, grade, school name”, or “X-grader, school name, city name”, or “X-grader, city name”. We’d love some kind of signature to personalize the cards.

If you’re interested in participating or supporting this initiative, please email your interest to both BeltwayBambinos@gmail.com and info@elianaslight.org. We will coordinate directly with you. We will need to collect all items by the end of the day on Feb. 11th.

We’re pleased to share that more than 300 people from schools, businesses, and non-governmental organizations are already participating in 5 states! Thank you to CCBC Preschool, Darien Elementary School, Garrett Park Preschool, Glenbrook Middle School, Mason-Rice School, Miner Elementary, Murch Elementary School, The River School, Springbrook High School, Spring Hill Elementary School, Tubman Elementary, and Thomson Elementary who have participating classes.