Lift! A Publication of Oklahoma Children's Hospital OU Health

Meet Charlie.

Philanthropy lifts the biggest dreams for our tiniest patients.

Philanthropy soars high.

It’s a wrap on another year of philanthropy here at Oklahoma Children’s Hospital OU Health and we have so much to celebrate! As a part of this celebration, we are happy to launch our bi-annual stewardship magazine called Lift! Your generosity lifts the biggest dreams for our tiniest patients and has fueled amazing progress for our kids and families.

Every dollar matters here. Our philanthropic priorities are driven by hospital leadership so we always value and understand our front-line needs to create the most impact. Each day we are reminded of what it means to be a place where kids soar and hope is real for the families who walk through our doors. From toy donations to state-of-the-art equipment purchases and large-scale renovation projects, our mission is to provide care that saves lives and so much of that is made possible by you.

Your kindness heals. Thank you for being a part of our donor family!

Chief Development Officer

OU Health

LIFT magazine is produced by Oklahoma Children’s Hospital Office of Philanthropy and underwritten at no cost to donors. Have a story to share? We love hearing from our donors! Email us at jordan.parsons@ouhealth.com.

Thanks to you and our matching partner Domino C-Stores, we exceeded our first-ever Giving Tuesday campaign goal!

With these funds, we provided a sensory swing in our pediatric physical therapy clinic that’s making a huge impact for patients, like Charlie, pictured on the cover and to the right.

lift

Le Normans Fund Nutrition Center

David and Cory Le Norman made a $1.5 million gift to fund the Quincy Le Norman Nutrition Center. The gift was made in honor of their daughter, Quincy, who was born 16 weeks early and weighing just one pound, 10 ounces.

Quincy is now a thriving adult and the family’s generosity ensures that thousands of other babies will have the same fighting chance. The nutrition center has already made a significant impact.

Presti Family Gives Back

As engaged members of the OKC community, Sam and Shannon Presti knew they wanted to give back in a big way. Since making a $600,000 gift to the Oklahoma Children’s Hospital in 2019, the impact of their generosity has touched hundreds of patients and families.

With their gift, the Presti Clubhouse and play space was created to give an expanded place for play and relaxation and has been host to dozens of events for patients and staff. In addition, the family’s gift funded much needed renovations to procedure rooms in the Jimmy Everest Center for Cancer and the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at Oklahoma Children’s Hospital.

Jon Hayes, President Oklahoma Children’s Hospital

Executive Director of Development

Interested in exploring meaningful gift opportunities at Oklahoma Children’s Hospital? We’d

Contact Sara at sara.parcell@ouhealth.com

“The Presti family’s gift helps us make every patient and family’s hospital stay as comfortable as possible. It will contribute toward improved recovery and support the healing process in tangible ways.”

Sara Parcell

love to hear from you!

philanthropy in action

corporations

partnering to elevate care for our pediatric patients

“Having our best community partners, like Bob Moore, involved with special events is invaluable. We hear about the value of giving time and contributions as a team and the experiences they bring elevate the care our patients and their families feel at the hospital. It’s a win-win for everyone!”

Sharing Comfort

Wars-themed party to celebrate May the 4th.

We appreciate our new corporate partner Sonic! This year, they donated comfort bears for our kids and gift cards to celebrate our hard working care teams.

Belinda Anderson Volunteer Manager

Bob Moore Team Brings Cheer

Corporate partner Bob Moore has given employee volunteer time and funding to sponsor meaningful events and programs for more than 20 years. This year, Bob Moore teams supported Mothers and Father’s Day celebrations, Camp Week, Back-toSchool events and Holiday gift shops where patients can choose free gifts for their loved ones.

Sharing the Spirit with Our Community

Thanks to our partner of more than 10 years, Spirit of Halloween, each child gets to pick out their very own Halloween costume at our spooky seasonal celebrations, but that’s not all. They also spread spirit into our community with the “Spirit of Children” corporate program, which allows customers to make a gift at registers or round up their purchases — to date, raising more than $700,000 for Oklahoma Children’s Hospital.

Interested in exploring meaningful partnership opportunities at Oklahoma Children’s Hospital? We’d love to hear from you!

Jacobson Executive Director of Volunteers & Philanthropy Services

Contact Sara at sara.jacobson@ouhealth.com

Sara

Robert Glenn Rapp Foundation Funds Family Resource Center

Since opening the Family Resource Center, over 6,000 patients and their families have visited, thanks largely to the $100,000 gift from the Robert Glenn Rapp Foundation that made this space possible.

There are so many examples of families who have desperately needed the services provided in the resource center but one story in particular sticks with Family Resource Center Manager, Kerry Stark, to this day. “I met this family last summer, immediately following a terrible accident that landed a pre-teen girl at Oklahoma Children’s Hospital and the mother in the adult tower. The grandmother first came in the Family Resource Center to print forms to pick up the car keys from a wrecker service. She mentioned that the form needed to be notarized so I went to the mother’s hospital room in the adult tower to complete the forms with her.”

For the next few weeks, the mother, father, grandmother and sister were stopping by multiple times a day to share updates, progress pictures/videos and to just have someone to laugh or cry with. They could

not have been more appreciative to have a space to feel their grief and have a place to recharge before heading back up to the room.

“When they discharged, it was unknown how much this girl would be able to be rehabilitated following the accident and I figured I would not see the family again. So when this girl walked into the Family Resource Center with her family the week before Thanksgiving, I nearly fell out of my chair!”

-Kerry A. Stark

Now the family never misses an opportunity to stop by the Family Resource Center when they are here for an appointment and never misses an opportunity to say how grateful they are to have had the Family Resource Center available to them.

foundations philanthropy in action

lifting care with their generosity

Spreading Joy

Child’s Play Charities has been a long time supporter of Oklahoma Children’s Hospital, gifting game systems and games to help kids keep playing. We are proud to welcome Chris Aguilar, our new Patient Technology Specialist, focused on gaming and helping kids connect through technology and STEAM (Science Tech Engineering Art and Math) concepts. Child’s Play Charities provided a generous grant to fund his role and help us build out best practice STEAM and gaming programs right here in Oklahoma.

OU Football helped patient, Dylan, receive star treatment while touring their facilities with a virtual robot visit.

Want to explore your Foundation’s potential to make an impact at Oklahoma Children’s Hospital? We’d love to hear from you!

Contact Sara at sara.parcell@ouhealth.com

Sara Parcell Executive Director of Development

Hearts for Elliott toy drive

finding gratitude

Family Gives Back to the NICU That Saved Their Daughter

Since graduating from the Oklahoma Children’s Hospital neonatal intensive care unit in July 2020, Megan Siever — along with husband Coleman and now 2-year-old Isla — are giving back to the facility that saved their lives. Megan and Isla visited the Oklahoma Children’s Hospital in April 2022 to donate care packages to all NICU families and bring pizza to the medical team.

Isla’s life started out here, in the plastic bassinet where all premature babies receive life-saving care. Now, she’s joyfully running around the lobby and eagerly greeting people she sees.

Isla was born on March 21, 2020, 100 days before her due date. She came into the world with eyes wide open, staring up at the doctors who helped get her tiny body to this point. She was small, weighing just 16.6 oz, but they could intubate her.

Through being a NICU parent and navigating life during the COVID-19 pandemic, Megan developed close relationships with Isla’s providers, many of which grew into lasting friendships. “The NICU can feel isolating anyway and being a NICU parent during COVID is completely isolating because support systems were (understandably) cut out,” said Megan. “Our doctors, nurses and therapists became our support system. I can’t speak highly enough of the facility and team.

There’s no place we’d rather be. I think that speaks a lot considering we’re from Houston, a place with some of the best hospitals in the country.”

Isla left the NICU and went home 130 days after she was born.

Isla is two years old now. She’s graduated from all her therapies. She’s taking gymnastics and swim lessons, going to the park, meeting family and friends — doing all the things she couldn’t do for so long.

Megan’s advice to other NICU parents: Take it day by day, minute by minute. Get to know and appreciate your providers because they’re doing something you, as a parent, cannot.

“I may have given Isla life, but the NICU team at Oklahoma Children’s Hospital are the ones who made her live. There’s no place we’d rather receive care.”

- Megan Siever

Have a story you’d like to share? We’d love to hear from you!

Contact Jordan at jordan.parsons@ouhealth.com

Donor Engagement & Stewardship Coordinator

Jordan Parsons

Want to grow your personal impact for patients at Oklahoma Children’s?

Join Kite Club today! With your monthly gift commitment of $25 or more, you become a meaningful part of helping our kids and families thrive. Kite Club dollars are used to fund the greatest needs in care here and we look forward to keeping you up-to-date on how your donations are being used and all the exciting progress happening at Oklahoma Children’s Hospital.

P.S. When you sign up, we’ll send you a welcome packet and car decal so you can proudly display your support. oklahomachildrens.com/giving

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