On Sunday, May 31, our family will be participating in a very special walk to raise funds for the St. Mary’s Healthcare System for Children. As you may know, our granddaughter Penny suffers from Aicardi Syndrome, a rare, devastating neurological and developmental disorder, and for the last eight months, she has been a patient at St. Mary’s Hospital for Children in Bayside, New York.

St. Mary’s is a pioneer in the field of post-acute pediatric care for children with complex medical and life-limiting conditions, one of the first organizations anywhere and still one of the few around the country to specialize in this area. It was an excruciating decision for her parents last September to have Penny move to this nonsectarian hospital, about 20 minutes from her home, but during the last nine months before the move, she had had multiple hospital stays in intensive care because of life-threatening complications related to her condition, and even aggressive out-patient medical care hadn’t stopped them. At St. Mary’s she is better protected from infection, can receive all the daily specialized medical treatments she needs, attend the school for special-needs children and work with a team of therapists to improve her physical well-being, all right there at the hospital.

The facility is beautiful, and the staff are an amazing group of people who always remember that a child is more than his or her condition. We of course wish that no child would need St. Mary’s, but as long as the need is there, St. Mary’s will be there, too. The high quality care it provides does not come cheap, which is why we’re happy to join in efforts to raise funds for St. Mary’s.

The Walk for St. Mary’s Kids will take place at Crocheron Park in Bayside, and we’d love to have you join us if you can. If travel to NYC is not feasible, you can still join us by donating to this cause so close to our hearts. You can go to my personal web page on the Walk site to make an online donation, call 718-281-8890 with credit card information or send a check to St. Mary’s Healthcare System for Children, 29-01 216th St., Bayside, NY 11360. Please designate that you’re donating on behalf of Donald Cymrot and Team Penny so that I will be notified and can thank you personally.