St. Mary’s Kids Meet Their Favorite Hockey Heroes
New York Islander players, Trevor Gillies, Michael Grabner, and P.A. Parenteau visited St. Mary’s Hospital for Children to spread a little joy during the holiday season, bearing gifts and toys for their young friends at St. Mary’s.
The New York Islanders yearly visit to the Bayside hospital is a special holiday event St. Mary’s kids always look forward to and anticipate meeting with their favorite Hockey heroes whom they’ve created a special bond with and keep close to their hearts.
While meeting and greeting with patients and their families, sharing stories, pictures, autographs, and laughter, The players helped create a happy holiday for all by distributing lots of holiday surprises and presents including board games, Tickle Me Elmo dolls, stuffed animals, DVD’s, iPod speakers, and much more.
St. Mary’s kids are some of the most seriously ill and injured children in the NY region battling complex medical and life-limiting conditions. Not all patients had the opportunity to leave their beds and participate in the fun due to their medical condition, but that didn’t stop the Islanders from making a special visit and hand delivering presents to patients in their rooms.
As the players walked through the hospital visiting room after room, they learned about the diverse array of programs and services St. Mary’s offers to over 4,000 children with special needs, through inpatient, and homecare programs, and felt that little tingle in their hearts that keeps them coming back, year after year.
The Islanders annual visit is just another way for St. Mary’s kids to keep the joy of the holidays alive in their hearts and participate in the festive season; an opportunity they may not otherwise have. For the Islanders, a visit with St. Mary’s kids is their biggest gift for the holidays.
