Holiday gift ideas for patients and families at UMHS

Updated 11:00 AM November 17, 2003

Holiday gift ideas for patients and families at UMHS

The holiday season time can be difficult and lonely for patients and families who are away from home and not feeling well. There are many opportunities to buy gifts for patients and families at the U-M Health System (UMHS):

• Adult inpatient and motor meals holiday gift bags. Items needed for 350 adult inpatients and 200 motor meal clients include: gift cards for retail stores, phone cards, spiral notebooks, travel-size toiletries, playing cards, small flashlights with batteries, pens, pencils, word search books, crossword puzzles, 2004 calendars, candy, socks, small jigsaw puzzles, coffee mugs and monetary donations. For more information, call Dana Kremm in Community Outreach at (734) 763-6302, Trisha McEvers in Social Work at (734) 764-7419, Pam Fogarty in Volunteer Services at (734) 936- 7912, or Delphine Christensen at Motor Meals at (734) 763-2377;

• Cancer Center gifts. Volunteers are needed to make polar fleece blankets (Warm Fuzzies) for adult and pediatric cancer patients throughout the year. For more information, contact Mary McCully at the Cancer Center (734) 936-8307;

• Holiday stockings for chemotherapy patients. Participate in the 5th Annual Holiday Stockings for Chemotherapy Patients Project by helping the HemOnc Holiday Elves fill some 400 holiday stockings. Items needed are five-by-seven inch journals and monetary donations of $5 to sponsor a stocking. Visit http://www.med.umich.edu/stockings/index.htm for more detailed information or e-mail Susan Blaisdell of the Cancer Center at sblaisde@umich.edu for delivery by Dec. 1;

• UMHS Social Work's holiday sponsorship program. Each year, the UMHS Department of Social Work pulls together a list of adult and pediatric patients who are not financially able to provide for the December holiday season. The department then matches the list with those willing to sponsor patients and families. Items needed include monetary donations, phone cards and gift certificates for stores that sell toys, clothing, food, gas and prescriptions. Delivery of all items will need to take place by Dec. 8. For details, contact Mary Ann Bremer Wilson at mwils@med.umich.edu or (734) 764-8052.
—Submitted by UMHS

Holiday gift ideas for patients and families at UMHS

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