Life Essentials
The Foundation prides itself on helping families by funding vital CCFK psychosocial programs. We relieve non-medical burdens and mitigate financial hardship among the Center’s patient population by providing essentials like petty cash for lunches and dinners, supermarket gift cards, pharmacy co-payments, and funds for transportation to and from chemotherapy.
Our Life Essentials Program distributes an estimated $2,500 in gift cards each month to needy patients and families.
The program’s impact, especially among the working poor with limited incomes, is immeasurable as the following stories will attest.
It was two days before Christmas, and one of the CCFK’s families was without heat. Working with the Center’s Social Worker, the Foundation intervened and provided funds to pay for an oil delivery. When it was discovered that the father and son lacked suitable winter clothing, the Foundation made gift cards available so they could purchase coats, boots, hats and gloves.
The Foundation recently adopted a CCFK family – a patient, his parents and two siblings–in dire need of food and clothing. The gift cards we donated ensured that the refrigerator was full and coats and other essential articles of clothing were provided for everyone.
We in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at The Cancer Center at Stony Brook Long Island Children’s are delighted and honored to have the support of the Michael Magro Foundation. They have truly fulfilled their mission and generously eased the burden of the patients in our care. As a team, we strive to give our patients and their families the most comfortable and enjoyable experience possible when they come in for treatment. The Michael Magro Foundation has helped us to make this possible, in more ways than one…
In the last few months, they have donated many boxes of neutropenic friendly snacks so that our patients are able to enjoy a safe and delicious treat during long days of chemotherapy infusions. We often have patients that come in for (what they think is) a quick blood draw, that end up needing fluids or blood products. It is so nice to be able to have these things available to families who do not come prepared. These snacks not only satiate the child’s appetite, but empower them to make a choice. It’s a wonderful sight to watch the children look through the cabinets with huge smiles on their faces, and be able to choose from a variety of different snacks, in an environment where their choices are often limited.
The Michael Magro Foundation has generously contributed to many of our pediatric oncology families faced with the financial hardships of treatment, by donating gift cards. The supermarket and restaurant gift cards help our families to ensure that our patients are getting enough nutrition and hydration. The Target and Walmart gift cards have helped families prepare for a transfer to another hospital, the birth of a new baby, assist with the cost of household necessities, etc. The gas gift cards have helped families who cannot afford to bring their children to their scheduled appointments. To the family, this assistance alleviates the financial stress of commuting expenses. To the team here at Stony Brook, this means that this wonderful foundation is indirectly facilitating the utmost of care in our facility, by making sure the child is able to get to their scheduled appointments and receive their therapy on a consistent basis without the obstacles that the family would face without this aid.
The Michael Magro Foundation has played a huge role in allowing us to celebrate milestones with our patients. They have provided us with what we call “celebration in a bag”. Each bag has a theme and is filled with all the essentials to celebrate a birthday, end of treatment party or milestone. Our patients look forward to choosing what type of party they want to have and coming in to the clinic for a personalized celebration just for them! It means so much to the families to see that we take such pride in making these occasions so special for their child. Unfortunately, for some families, this can be the last milestone they will celebrate with their child. The Michael Magro Foundation’s support helps us give these patients and their families a celebration that they will never forget.
Family Testimonial
“The Magro Foundation, helped the Burris family through a very difficult time the 1st week of chemo, due to our medical bills and utility bills we were truly concerned if we were able to keep up with paying for our mode of transportation to and from the hospital. We feared we would not keep up. Once the Magro Foundation helped and eased our worries, we were able to breath some relief. The support gave us time to regroup to help in our efforts to pay for Damon,s medications, hospital bills and especially his care. The Burris Family thanks Ms Magro and the Michael Magro Foundation. “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” -JFK”