Cardon's Children's Medical Center Visit 12/22/09

On Tuesday December 22nd, 2009, the Arizona Ghostbusters visited two of the local major children's hospitals to deliver toys for the holidays. The hospitals visited were Cardon's Children's Medical Center and Phoenix Children's Hospital. These deliveries have long been in the making with our first collection of donations starting with our screening of "Ghostbusters" in November and our actual toy drive earlier in the month. Between the screening and the toy drive we were able to collect $450 in cash donations and over 300 toys. The toy drive and these deliveries benefitted families that are a part of the local Children's Cancer Network. The network assists families that have children undergoing cancer treatment with obtaining care services, transportation, offer encouragement and support, and help brighten their holidays. This was our first toy drive and delivery with the network and certainly won't be our last.

The first delivery of the day was at Cardon's Medical Center. There the toys were set up in a mini-theater and Real Ghostbuster episodes were played for the children coming in. The children at this hospital were still undergoing regular treatment and will unfortunately still be there during Christmas. The children came in with their parents and picked out toys and ate breakfast. Each toy we collected was marked with a sticker with our combined logo with the Network. Some children had seen the cartoon before and some hadn't, but they all enjoyed them. It was definitely a welcome break from their treatment schedules and we were told before we left the children were already enjoying their toys. The second delivery was at the Phoenix Children's Hospital outpatient wing where children and families regularly come for treatment. There the toys were set up in an examination room with the Ghostbusters soundtrack playing. After treatment the children came in and picked out their toys. The toys not used on these deliveries will be used on Christmas morning and will also be handed out throughout the year to new patients. We'd like to thank Cardon's Medical Center, Phoenix Children's Hospital, and the Children's Cancer Network for letting us help brighten the holidays of these families.