Hope for Henry Foundation Blog

Hope for Henry Foundation brings Carnival Day to HUMC
By Mel Fabrikant Thursday, October 30 2008, 09:41 AM EDT

The Hope for Henry Foundation (HFHF) brought fun and games to patients of the Reuten Clinic within the DON IMUS-WFAN Pediatric Center for Tomorrows Children, as well as the inpatients of The Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital at Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC), by way of a carnival celebration.

HFHF knows it can be difficult for children undergoing treatment to attend events like carnivals or parties, so four times a year, the group brings the fun directly to the patients. This instance – Carnival Day – included many favorite summer activities of children, including jugglers, a photo booth, face painters, an assortment of carnival games, balloons, goody bags, candy, and spin art.

HFHF was established in 2003 to honor the legacy of Henry Strongin Goldberg, who died at the age of seven from Fanconi anemia, a rare, fatal genetic disease. HFHF improves the lives of children with life-threatening illnesses by providing carefully chosen gifts and specially-designed programs to entertain and promote comfort, care, and recovery. HFHF has been serving patients at HUMC since 2005.

“We started the foundation as a tribute to Henry and how he’s remembered – which is for his playfulness, and sense of humor,” said Laurie Strongin, Henry’s mother and the founder of HFHF. “The attitude he took every day of his life, no matter what the circumstance, was ‘Hey, let’s just make it great.’ Even though he was a very sick little boy, he never acted like he was sick; he never thought of himself as sick.”

One of the patients at HUMC who enjoyed Carnival Day was 12-year-old Jake Healy, of Wanamassa, NJ, who had such a large amount of candy and prizes on top of the cabinet in the corner of his room that he couldn’t even keep track of how he won them all. “Carnival Day is great because it makes the day a lot more fun, and not so boring,” said Jake. “My favorite activity is spin art – it’s so cool!” Overall, Jake thought Carnival Day was great – just like Henry would’ve hoped.

About Hackensack University Medical Center
HealthGrades® named HUMC as one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals for 2007 and 2008. This designation recognizes hospitals that have demonstrated superior clinical quality over a seven-year time period, based upon an analysis of more than 75 million Medicare patient records from 1999-2006. These hospitals have achieved better survival rates and lower complication rates across dozens of medical procedures and diagnoses, fromcardiac care to orthopedic surgery, consistently ranking among the top five percent in the nation for overall clinical outcomes. HUMC is the only healthcare facility in New Jersey, New York, and New England to be named one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals, for two years in a row. For more information, please visit the medical center’s website at www.humc.com.