August Newsball 2018
Playing Catch-Up with the Life is Good Playmakers
Last month, I was giving a presentation to highlight the impact of the Life is Good Playmakers and our investment in the childcare professionals that we call, “Playmakers.”
Admittedly, I was trying to paint as compelling and inspiring a picture as possible.
I showed a map of the United States and Haiti and pointed out that our Playmaker Program is now being used by more than 10,000 childcare professionals to better serve more than 1 million kids growing up amidst poverty, violence, and illness.
Then I zoomed in on New England—about 3,500 Playmakers.
Then I zoomed in on the town of Leominster—125 Playmakers.
Then I zoomed in on Howard Street in Cambridge—one Playmaker.
I spent the majority of my presentation telling the story of how one Playmaker chose not to ignore the disheveled five-year-old boy in her neighborhood who seemed to be spending way too much time all by himself. Instead, she chose to introduce herself to the boy’s mother, welcome him into her preschool, and change the trajectory of his life.
Today, that preschooler is the first member of his family to graduate college. He also possesses an abundance of courage, conviction, and compassion, and has built a life of beauty and purpose.
Big numbers are impressive, but so is the number one.
It is difficult to place a value on one life saved. According to the Talmud, anyone who saves one life, is as if they have saved the whole world. And by that same logic, anyone who helps someone save one life, is as if they have saved the whole world.
With that in mind, thank you all for helping to save the world – one child at a time.
Love & Peace,
Steve Gross, MSW
Chief Playmaker, Life is Good Playmakers
GOOD PROGRESS
Our Work in the Field
Mahube-Otwa Community Action
This month 100 Head Start teachers and staff from Mahube-Otwa Community Action (MOCA) gathered in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota for an LiGP 101 Workshop. Earlier this year, Minnesota Head Start gathered educators from across the state to learn how our Playmaker Program makes lasting, positive differences for kids in need and for the professionals who take care of them. Impressed by our impact, leaders from MOCA reached out to develop a plan to bring our Playmaker Program to their direct service staff. Now, in Minnesota, our Playmaker Program is helping hundreds of care professionals and thousands of kids across multiple Head Start programs as well as the state’s leading children’s hospital.
Learn more about our newest Minnesota partner, Manhube-Otwa Community Action
Two Day Public Workshop
The LiGP Program initially launched as a series of personal and professional development workshops for individual childcare providers. We focused on serving and supporting those professionals who dedicated their careers to serving kids faced with overcoming trauma. While our focus has remained the same, the LiGP has evolved to now primarily partnering with entire childcare organizations and care systems. Thanks to major support from an anonymous subsidizing grant, we are still able to host two-day intensive Playmakers Retreats for individual childcare professional at our headquarters in Boston on a quarterly basis. This past month, dozens of care professionals from a variety of medical, education, and enrichment settings attended our August two-day retreat. Our final public offering of 2018 will take place this November.
Growing More Good in Newtown
For more than three years now, the Life is Good Playmakers and our signature Playmaker Program has helped build optimal environments and life-changing relationships for children, families, and citizens all across Newtown, Connecticut. This month our Deep Impact Partnerships with the Newtown Public Schools moved into its next phase of work, with our two-day, 202 Playmaker Retreat offered to teachers, staff, and administrators across the school system. This partnership is funded by the Newtown-Sandy Hook Community Foundation, which is devoted to furthering and supporting operations and activities to support the unmet needs of individuals and the Newtown community following the tragic events at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012.
GOOD GROWTH
Our Work to Raise Support
Play Fore Playmakers
On July 30, nearly 100 optimists teed off at Sterling National Country Club for the 6thAnnual Play Fore Playmakers Golf Tournament presented by James Monroe Wire and Cable. While enjoying a great day of golf on a gorgeous course, 97 players, 24 sponsors, and 10 volunteers raised more than $40,000 to help kids heal through the Life is Good Playmakers Program. Thank you so much to everyone who came out and had a great time for an even greater cause. We’ve already started holding spots and sponsorships for next year! If you’re interested in getting in on the fun, please email Morgan Cirillo at:
UPS Volunteerism Grant
Nearly all of the volunteers at our Play Fore Playmakers Tournament came from our friends at UPS. A loyal supporter of our work to support childcare professionals and the kids they serve, UPS has provided funds and service to further our mission for many years. This year, our champions logged enough volunteer hours with the Life is Good Playmakers to unlock a $20,000 Volunteerism Grant from the UPS Foundation, which they presented to us after volunteering ALL DAY at our golf tournament. Talk about going above and beyond! Thank you for always helping us #GROWtheGood!
GOOD PEOPLE
Our Playmakers
Playmaker Spotlight- Camille
The truth is, I’m always happy to talk about the Life is Good Kids Foundation and how the Playmaker Program helps the kids I care for and the teams I work with every day.
I’m a child life specialist at Texas Children’s Hospital. My work is to connect through play; to help kids and their families who come to the hospital—to receive treatment, undergo surgery, or understand a diagnosis—to feel safe and joyful, even amidst great stress. Part of that work is to displace the power of unfamiliar places and procedures, and return it back to our patients and those who love them.
So, that’s what I do. But now I’d like to focus on Camille.
Camille’s family brought her back to the hospital for end-of-life care when she was three-months old. There’s no lessening this pain or the inevitable everlasting grief. There’s no making it better or fair, and yet, there’s still room for more than just sadness and despair.
I met Camille and her family over the course of several days. During our sessions together, I learned more about the memory-making activities that they had started with another hospice child life specialist but hadn’t been able to complete. That prompted me to start sharing the kind of memory-making experiences we could continue together.
When Camille’s mom, Robin, turned to me and said, “I want to make all the cutesy stuff,” I smiled and asked her to tell me more. She told me more about the art projects they’d started through hospice services and how important it was (for all of them) to capture good memories.
That’s when we started to put together a plan for Camille’s forever calendar.
Right there in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), with Camille still connected to IVs and lines and machines, her extended family and I provided an equally critical and entirely different kind of treatment.
Camille’s four-year-old sister painted her feet. Her parents, grandparents, and aunts and uncles each took turns gently turning Camille’s baby prints into beautiful rainbows, hearts, butterflies, even ice cream cones. Together, in a PICU room, we made 12 priceless pieces of art and a lasting, positive connection. We created what Playmakers call, “O’playsis;” an oasis of play—of connection, engagement, and joy.
In the PICU, we found joy.
My practice as a Playmaker keeps me aware of and focused on the good that can be nurtured—no matter what. No matter what. And that keeps me perpetually grateful to keep offering outstanding care to all of my patients and all of their families.
GOT NEWS?
If you have news about a program, fundraiser, or event in support of The LiGP, let us know. We love hearing from you!
