Michael Magro Foundation and Spencer Foundation Announce Expansion of Operation: Playcation
Long Island, NY: The Michael Magro Foundation and The Spencer Foundation have announced the expansion of their joint effort, Operation: Playcation. In spring 2017 Jeanine Spencer of The Spencer Foundation and Terrie Magro of the Michael Magro Foundation teamed up to provide Sony PlayStation 4 Gaming Systems for Stony Brook Children’s Hospital. The PlayStations provide a vehicle for the inpatient children, age five through seventeen, to interact with their friends and their families and also engage in a fun pastime on their own while hospitalized for cancer treatments. Operation: Playcation at Stony Brook has been a resounding success.
Operation: Playcation is now on its way to spreading hope and inspiring smiles to even more children. Both The Spencer Foundation and The Magro Foundation have now expanded the program by bringing Sony PlayStation 4 Gaming Systems to NYU Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, NY. Both foundations are actively fundraising in order to offer our children hospitalized with cancer that much needed “vacation” from their treatments that the PlayStations provide. The foundations anticipate the installation of the gaming units at the Children’s Medical Center at Winthrop University Hospital to take place over the next several months. Games will be available to the children, who will also be able to bring games from their personal collections [for those with PlayStation 4 units].
Michael Magro Foundation is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization founded by Paul and Terrie Magro to honor the life of their son Michael, who passed away from leukemia at the age of 13. The Foundation works with the Cancer Center for Kids at Winthrop-University Hospital, Stony Brook Children’s Cancer Division, and other Winthrop and Stony Brook pediatric specialties where treatment of chronic diseases is ongoing. The core programs offered are: Life Essentials [helping families struggling financially during their child’s treatment with non-medical expenses]; Project SOAR [providing support for childhood cancer patients, families, students and teachers when the patient returns to school following long illnesses]; and Bonding With Baby [helping siblings of babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) communicate and bond].
The Spencer Foundation was founded by Jean and Jeanine Spencer, who believed in always making a positive impact by their presence. Jean and Jeanine Spencer were partners for 30 years and married in 2015. Jean was a lover of life, loving anything outdoors, including being an avid skier and a horsewoman. She loved children and was considered a big kid herself. Jean was known for her positive attitude and her smile, even while dealing with a long bout with cancer. Being the forever optimist, she believed that by living with cancer and dealing with all its challenges, she would be better enabled to help others. Jeanine was also diagnosed with cancer. During their cancer journey, Jean and Jeanine’s hearts ached for the children whose youth was interrupted by their illness. They saw the stress, fear and toll of the diagnosis and treatment that families endure as well as the life interrupted of these young souls. Before Jean died, they decided to create a foundation to provide resources for children and their families. By founding The Spencer Foundation in March 2016, Jeanine fulfilled Jean’s final wish.
Contributions may be made by the public to both the Michael Magro Foundation and the Spencer Foundation specifically for Operation: Playcation. For more information on the Michael Magro Foundation, or to make a contribution to Operation: Playcation, visit www.michaelmagrofoundation.org or email info@michaelmagrofoundation.org. For more information on the Spencer Foundation, or to make a donation to Operation: Playcation, visit www.thespencerfoundation.org or email thespencerfoundation@gmail.com.
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For More Information:
Contact: Tammy Severino
info@michaelmagrofoundation.org
(631) 834-1990