Thanks to the Orange Coast Harley Owners Group and Orange County Harley-Davidson, who are organizing a community toy drive to benefit CHOC Children’s, patients will be sure to have a holiday season filled with cheer!
Anyone interested in donating new, unwrapped toys or gift cards to the patients at CHOC, can deliver them from December 11 to December 23, to the Orange County Harley-Davidson dealership, located at 8677 Research Dr., in Irvine. On Saturday, December 12, from 9 a.m. – 11 a.m., the dealership will provide a pancake breakfast to anyone who drops off donations that day!
Individuals and groups who have donated to CHOC during the holiday season are encouraged to join efforts with the Harley Owners Group and drop off their toys at the Orange County Harley-Davidson dealership instead of the hospital, due to campus construction.
For questions about the Harley Toy Drive, please email the Orange Coast Harley Owners Group at director@ochog.org. For the hospital’s “wish list,” please visit www.choc.org and click on “Give to CHOC,” followed by “Ways to Help.”
CHOC Children’s Hospital is one of 45 hospitals – and one of only eight children’s hospitals across the nation- named to the “Leapfrog 2009 Top Hospitals” list, based on results from The Leapfrog Hospital Survey. CHOC’s survey score was 97.2 points out of 100 possible points, as compared to an average score of 72.4 for children’s hospitals across the country. The survey (found at www.leapfroggroup.org) is the only national, public comparison of hospitals on key issues including mortality rates for certain common procedures, infection rates, safety practices and measures of efficiency.
According to The Leapfrog Group CEO Leah Binder, “This year’s class of Top Hospitals not only hits the mark in areas such as medication error prevention and ICU deaths, but they also use their resources wisely, providing excellent and efficient outcomes for patients. Regardless of what happens to healthcare reform, these hospitals are the future.”
Thanks to our friends at KIIS FM, CHOC Rocked (literally) with many celebrity guests stopping by the Radio Lollipop studio and visiting patients up on the floors. Be sure to check out our website for even more photos and video: http://www.choc.org/radiolollipop/index.cfm?id=P00091
Every year, two special children lead 15,000 CHOC Supporters down Main Street, U.S.A. in the Disneyland® Resort in Anaheim California. These remarkable children remind us of how important CHOC Children’s is to our community. It’s for the children that we walk and it’s for them that CHOC makes miracles and Disney® makes magic!
We are honored to introduce you to the 2009 CHOC Walk in the Park Kid Chairs, sisters, Lauren and Stacie! Visit the CHOC Walk website to read their story. And be sure to register for this year’s CHOC Walk in the Park by visiting http://www.chocwalk.org. See you at the walk!
To my CHOC family – here’s wishing you a very happy hospital week. This is a perfect time for me to tell you how proud I am of everything CHOC has accomplished this year — the Silver Level CAPE Award, the affiliation with UC Irvine and our plans to build one of the most advanced children’s hospitals in the nation (just to name a few). Thank you for everything you do to advance pediatric healthcare.
National Volunteer Week recently passed, and I just want to take a moment to thank all of the wonderful men and women who volunteer their time at CHOC. Just in the past year, CHOC volunteers donated more than 6,000 hours of service! We are so lucky to have so many volunteers who are dedicated to supporting us in our mission of nurturing, protecting and advancing the health and well being of children.
I’d like to thank my friends at Kohl’s Department Stores for their $1 million total donation to the hospital at the recent 2009 Air Power Games. Kohl’s was the premier sponsor for the Air Power Games, which provided approximately 75 children with asthma the opportunity to compete in a variety of fun track and field events. The weather was great and it was so much fun! The event was a wonderful success thanks to the Kohl’s A-teams, a group of associates who volunteered from the Rancho Santa Margarita, Ladera Ranch, Irvine, Seal Beach, Santa Ana, Huntington Beach and Laguna Niguel Kohl’s stores.Congrats to the winners and see you next at next year’s competition!
As we celebrate Doctors Day at CHOC Children’s we take this opportunity to honor our physicians for their dedication to the children we serve. Each day they offer hope and healing through their compassionate and world-class care. Take a moment to visit our website and read about some of our docs and the amazing things they do for our kids: http://www.choc.org/100stories/index.cfm?keyword=docs
I have been known to showcase some smooth dance skills every now and again – not easy for a bear my size. There’s nothing like dancing, especially when combined with singing, to cheer one’s soul. That’s why I am counting the days until CHOC Follies XII: The Princess and the Prius, featuring more than 100 of Orange County’s society, business and civic leaders singing and dancing to raise funds for CHOC Children’s. This hysterical musical production will hit the Robert B. Moore Theater at Orange Coast College on April 2 at 8 p.m., April 3 at 8 p.m., and April 4 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. More information, including ticket prices and sponsorship opportunities, can be found at www.chocfollies.org.
