Sea Girt PTO “Spreads the Love” with Donation to The Valerie Fund at Monmouth Medical Center

Representatives from the Sea Girt Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) and students of Sea Girt Elementary School recently visited Monmouth Medical Center to present a $500 donation to The Valerie Fund Children’s Center at The Unterberg Children’s Hospital.

The funds, raised during Sea Girt Elementary School’s “Spread the Love” dance for daughters and their fathers or other special person, will be used to purchase gifts for attendees of the Annual Valerie Fund Summer Beach Party. The Beach Party provides Valerie Fund patients past and present the opportunity to relax and enjoy a fun-filled day of activities.

“Rather than buy favors for the kids who attended the dance, we decided to put the money to an even better use and, to go along with the theme of the dance, spread the love to someone who might need it by making a donation to The Valerie Fund Center,” said Alice Keefe, co-chair of the “Spread the Love” dance.

“We are so grateful the Sea Girt PTO and these young children wanted to ‘pay it forward’ to sick children,” said Susan Dulczak, MSN, RN-CS, PNP, clinical director of Monmouth Medical Center’s Valerie Fund Children’s Center. “Their donation will help us put a smile on the faces of our young patients.”

The Valerie Fund Center provides comprehensive medical services to infants, children, adolescents and young adults with leukemia and other cancers and blood disorders, such as sickle cell anemia, thalassemia and thrombocytopenia.

The Valerie Fund was established in 1976 in the memory of Valerie Goldstein, a nine-year-old Warren resident who died in 1976 after a six-year battle with cancer. The Unterberg Children's Hospital at Monmouth Medical Center became a part of this network in 1983 as the second Valerie Fund Children's Center in New Jersey. Today there are seven Valerie Fund Children's Centers for Cancer and Blood Disorders located in major hospitals in New Jersey, New York, and the Philadelphia area providing caring, comprehensive, state-of-the-art outpatient health care to more than 4,000 children and their families each year.

For more information about the Valerie Fund Center at The Unterberg Children’s Hospital at Monmouth Medical Center, call 732-923-7455.

PHOTO CAPTION: Sea Girt Elementary School students Kathleen Keefe, age 7, and Zoe Keefe, age 6 with Beth Baratz, child life specialist, Monmouth Medical Center; Alice Keefe, co-chair, Spread the Love Dance, Sea Girt Parent-Teacher Organization; Jean McKinney, director of development, Monmouth Medical Center Foundation;  Susan Dulczak, clinical director, Valerie Fund Children's Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders and Pediatric Medical Day Stay; and Heather Grossman, M.D., section chief of pediatric hematology/oncology at The Unterberg Children’s Hospital at Monmouth Medical Center.

About Monmouth Medical Center

Located in Long Branch, N.J., Monmouth Medical Center, a Barnabas Health facility, along with The Unterberg Children’s Hospital at Monmouth Medical Center, is one of New Jersey's largest teaching hospitals and has been an affiliate of Philadelphia’s Drexel University College of Medicine for more than 40 years. From its earliest days, Monmouth Medical Center has been a leader in surgical advancement and has introduced many technological firsts to the region, including robotic surgery and other minimally invasive techniques. The hospital is routinely recognized by HealthGrades, the nation’s largest premier independent health care quality company, for excellence in both emergency medicine and maternity care. U.S. News & World Report has recognized Monmouth as a regional leader in cancer, geriatrics, gynecology, neurology and neurosurgery. For more information on Monmouth Medical Center, visit www.barnabashealth.org/monmouth.