Sweet Charity - Making Hospital Stays a Little Sweeter

We hope to make hospital stays a little sweeter for teen patients by:

 Providing everything necessary to celebrate birthdays and holidays so no important event will go unnoticed

 Supporting the needs and interests of teens and their families while they are undergoing treatment

Sarah Frank (15 years of age)
Prior to my 12th birthday, I began to struggle with very unpleasant symptoms of what is still an undiagnosed illness. I have spent endless hours in emergency rooms, hospitals, and doctor's offices working with countless specialists for the past 3 years, all in search of a cause and a cure. After spending endless days, sleepless nights, and sometimes scary weeks in various pediatric hospitals away from my home and family, I began to feel disconnected from the real world of a teenager but a girl by the name of Erin Puck reached out to me, through her own charity, and realized that just because I was in the hospital I was not forgotten. Erin is a cancer survivor and, at the age of 12 while she was undergoing her own treatment she started a charity to make the time kids spend in hospitals more bearable, Toys.Calm.

In November of 2007, I met with Erin Puck, founder of Toys.Calm, and together we decided to form a new division titled Sweet Charity which would devote its resources to helping teen patients and their families with specific needs during their difficult times. When the word "pediatrics" comes to mind, many think of young children and because of this connotation teenage patients are often forgotten. Like my friend Erin, I wanted to help teenagers who are, or will be, in hospitals and make their time spent there a little less isolating.

Sweet Charity will stay on top of the ever changing trends in movies, music, and electronics that attract teens and keep the hospitals up to date. In addition to keeping pediatric wards more "teenager friendly," Sweet Charity will assure that a birthday or holiday is not forgotten because of treatments or hospitalization. Sweet Charity will donate party kits directly to the hospitals, which will include balloons, candles, and even gift certificates.