Holiday Gift Giving – PediaCast 571

Posted by on

Podcast: Download

Subscribe: RSS

Show Notes

Description

  • Scott McKenzie visits the studio as we consider holiday gift-giving at Nationwide Children’s. We have depended on the generosity of donors since 1892, when a bake sale supported a new hospital for kids in Columbus. We explore our history of philanthropy, current needs, and practical ways YOU can help our mission of supporting every child, for every reason. We hope you can join us!

Topic

  • Holiday Gift Giving

Guest

Links

 

Episode Transcript

[Dr Mike Patrick]
This episode of PediaCast is brought to you by the Nationwide Children's Foundation. 

Hello, everyone, and welcome once again to PediaCast. It is a pediatric podcast for moms and dads.

This is Dr. Mike coming to you from the campus of Nationwide Children's Hospital. We're in Columbus, Ohio. It's episode 571.

We're calling this one holiday gift giving. I want to welcome all of you to the program. So as one of the nation's largest and most comprehensive children's hospitals, Nationwide Children's has the ambitious and impressive mission of helping every child for every reason, regardless of a family's ability to pay.

And this is true for kids and teens everywhere. In fact, we serve patients and families from all 50 U.S. states and 45 countries. Our research, innovations in care and support for pediatric mental health improve young lives around the world.

Of course, this work depends upon the generosity of donors, which has been the going all the way back to 1892 when a local group held a bake sale to support the opening of our hospital. Today, the Nationwide Children's Foundation is tasked with organizing fundraising efforts, including our current holiday campaign. And that is the topic of today's episode, holiday gift giving.

We're going to cover some of the amazing programs offered by Nationwide Children's programs that depend on the support of donors because they are not covered by medical insurance. And yet they are still super important for the nearly 2 million patient visits we see each and every year. We have a terrific guest joining us this week as we explore holiday gift giving.

We're going to also talk about the history of philanthropy at Nationwide Children's, the current needs of our hospital and practical ways you can help both financially, but also through service and time and talents. The guest today is Scott McKenzie. He is the assistant vice president of external relations for Nationwide Children's Hospital Foundation.

Before we get to him, I do want to remind you that the information presented in every episode of our podcast is for general educational purposes only. We do not diagnose medical conditions or formulate treatment plans for specific individuals. If you're concerned about your child's health, be sure to call your healthcare provider.

Also, your use of this audio program is subject to the terms of use agreement, which you can find at pdacast.org. So, let's take a quick break. We'll get Scott McKenzie settled into the studio, and then we will be back to talk about holiday gift giving.

It's coming up right after this. 

[Dr Mike Patrick]
Scott McKenzie is assistant vice president of external relations for the Nationwide Children's Hospital Foundation. The foundation is the fundraising arm of Nationwide Children's.

It's essential to ensure funds are available for innovative research and emerging trends in pediatric health and to react to our ever-changing world. Philanthropy ensures we can dream big and ultimately achieve a better day for children with cancer, heart defects, autism, behavioral health conditions, and many, many other medical issues that impact the lives of kids and teens everywhere. The foundation has supported Nationwide Children's for over 100 years.

Scott is here to tell us how the foundation and your generosity have enabled us to help every child for every reason, regardless of a family's ability to pay. But before we get into that, let's offer a warm PediaCast welcome to our guest, Scott McKenzie. Thank you so much for being here today.

[Scott McKenzie]
Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure.

[Dr Mike Patrick]
Yeah, I really appreciate you taking time to join us. Let's start with just a little bit of a history about our hospital. How did Nationwide Children's get its start?

[Scott McKenzie]
Nationwide Children's started because of philanthropy, because of everyday common citizens coming together and deciding that they wanted to help sick children in Columbus. So, in 1892 group of citizens held a bake sale and that bake sale led to the creation of what we now know as Nationwide Children's Hospital.

[Dr Mike Patrick]
Yeah, that is really pretty incredible to think that a bake sale really helped get things started. Very impressive. And certainly, a good indicator that the community was going to be supportive of the hospital's efforts right, right out of the gate.

What other activities took place around that time to support the hospital?

[Scott McKenzie]
Well, that group that held the bake sale, they had a variety of different things that started and what they ultimately accomplished was they ultimately raised $175 in 1892 to lead to the start of the hospital. The hospital started seeing patients in 1894. We originally had nine beds, but then fundraising for Nationwide Children's continued still to this day.

But for example, a lot of people don't realize that the first public event ever held in the Horseshoe was a fundraiser for Nationwide Children's Hospital.

[Dr Mike Patrick]
Oh, very interesting. Yeah, that is, that is very interesting. What, what did, what exactly did they do?

[Scott McKenzie]
There, there was actually, you know, Buckeye fans will know, I mean, the first football game was, was played there. I think it was in 1922. So that was the first big, large-scale event, but they had, they had a smaller kind of almost like a soft opening, if you will, of the facility to have a party.

And you know, it was November, it was cold. I don't know that you could call it a gala, but it was just a coming together to raise money for Nationwide Children's in the new stadium before it was officially open for football.

[Dr Mike Patrick]
And that very first football game, by the way, was against Ohio Wesleyan University, which is my undergrad alma mater. And then I went to medical school at Ohio state. So, I had both of them covered for the first game in the Horseshoe.

You know, when you mentioned that that bake sale made, what'd you say? $175? Yeah.

$175 in 1800 money. I mean, I would imagine that was actually like thousands of dollars today.

[Scott McKenzie]
Yes. Yes. Yeah.

I mean, it was a healthy amount, but even then, though it was still a bake sale, it was still cookies. And you know, if today we have a bake sale, we charge a dollar for a cookie or $2 for a Rice Krispie treat. Maybe back then they were charging a nickel.

So, although the effort ended up raising $175, it was still very, very small amounts, small activities from very common citizens. One of the things that I'm sure we'll talk about throughout the course of our conversation is that we're blessed to have families that have names on buildings and get headlines in newspapers. But the reality is that the majority of the fundraising and Nationwide Children's comes from everyday people like you and me.

[Dr Mike Patrick]
Yeah. Yeah. And when you see a community come together to support something, both then and now it's really an important thing, but also speaks to that community for sure.

Why are fundraising efforts still important today? So, you know, some would say, well, kids are in the hospital, families are getting charged for that care, you know, insurance companies are paying. Why are fundraising efforts important for healthcare organizations and in particular children's hospitals?

[Scott McKenzie]
There's sort of two ways to answer that question. Both of them are valid, but they're kind of two phases, if you will. Number one is that philanthropy enables our hospital to do the right thing.

And so there are a lot of things that Nationwide Children's Hospital does that cannot be charged to insurance. And one of the perfect examples of this is the Bread Financial sibling clubhouse on the first floor. You know, if Johnny is the patient and he's being treated for cancer or he's being treated for a broken bone and he's upstairs, then obviously we can bill insurance or we can build a government for Johnny's care.

But his little brother Bobby who was looking forward to going into Disney World and now they can't because Johnny's upstairs and Bobby doesn't understand and Bobby's scared. Bobby can go to the sibling clubhouse, and he can get the help that he needs, but we can't charge for that service that Bobby's getting. So, the philanthropy helps us pay for things like the sibling clubhouse, like pet therapy, like psychosocial programming that helps in so many ways, pays for philanthropy, pays for things like the comfort kits that people come get when they come to the emergency room.

You know, we can't bill Medicaid for the toothbrush that we give to a mom who had to run out in the middle of the night at two in the morning to bring her child in. So, all of these things that our hospital does that we're so proud about and we do them because they're the right thing to do, quite frequently, there is no money coming in for those. And so, philanthropy makes it possible for us to do those things.

On a broader scale, another way that philanthropy plays a crucial role in the functioning of Nationwide Children's Hospital is that philanthropy enables you to take big steps that are different, that are maybe outside the norm. No matter how successful an institution is, day-to-day business does not equal revolution. And so, when things come along, like in 2014, when our community recognized the growing need of behavioral health services, day-to-day business doesn't enable us to build the largest, most comprehensive behavioral health facility in the country dedicated to children.

So, on a small-scale philanthropy pays for the comfort kits of that family that comes in and they needed to brush in the middle of the night. On a larger scale, philanthropy enables Nationwide Children's to take those like leap year, like steps way forward that are transformational to the delivery of healthcare in the whole country, not just in our community.

[Dr Mike Patrick]
Yeah. Yeah. So, so important.

And to your point, it's often pediatric illnesses and injuries, not always, of course, but in many cases, they can be prevented. And prevention efforts are another thing that number one, there's not, you know, you can't bill for that. And yet it's a really important community benefit to have those prevention efforts in place.

And so that's, and in fact, really, you're trying to decrease the number of patients that come into the hospital, which seems a little bit counterintuitive in business, but again, it comes back to doing the right thing. And that, that really is the right thing. I was a resident at Columbus Children's Hospital back before it became Nationwide Children’s, and it was much smaller place back in the nineties.

I mean, really it just, even in the last 10, 15 years, the facilities have just expanded greatly. A huge tower opened up just a few years ago and now there's, has recently been groundbreaking on a new, even bigger tower. And of course, all of these building projects also cost money.

And in fact, long-term plan is, as I understand it, over $3 billion effort to build facilities and continue to grow. And currently we're in a $500 million campaign that, did I get those numbers right?

[Scott McKenzie]
That's correct. Yeah.

[Dr Mike Patrick]
And so, as part of the holiday campaign, we have something going on called Light the Lawn, Light Up a Life. And again, this is an effort not only to raise money, but also to spread some holiday cheer for patients and families and staff that are coming in and out of the hospital. But tell us a little bit about that campaign, Light the Lawn, Light Up a Life.

[Scott McKenzie]
Right. So as part of our larger $500 million campaign to support the hospital's strategic plan, we have a wide variety of sort of mini-initiatives, if you will, or mini campaigns that go on. And Light Up the Lawn, Light Up a Life is a new tradition that fills the holiday season for donors and for our children.

So, this is the third year of Light Up the Lawn, Light Up the Life. And the idea is that if any listeners haven't been by the campus lately, there are more than 100 butterflies, some of which are 10 feet tall that are on the front line of Nationwide Children's Hospital. Those butterflies are also scattered throughout Columbus.

And so, there's one at the airport, there's one in Polaris, there's one at Easton, there's one at Bridge Park. And we even have one with our friends up at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Toledo. But the idea is that any donation made between now and December 31st, any donation of any dollar amount triggers those butterfly lights.

And so, what happens is during the day or during night, child is looking out the window and just the whole lawn, this kind of Disney world of lights flutters through our campus and tries to bring a little bit of joy to those children that are in the hospital and to let them know that the community is thinking about them. We know that it's never fun to be in the hospital. It's certainly not fun to be in the hospital during the holidays.

And so Light Up the Lawn, Light Up Life is the way for us to raise money to help kids, but also to put a smile on those very same kids while they're looking out their hospital room.

[Dr Mike Patrick]
Yeah. And, and I will add, of course, that's the primary reason, but as staff walk from the parking garage into work and back after work, it's lovely to see and to experience and kind of, you know, just puts a smile on your face. And we need every opportunity for that that we can get.

So how long then will the holiday campaign run?

[Scott McKenzie]
It runs through December 31st of 2024.

[Dr Mike Patrick]
Okay. And so, if, and of course, the end of the year is a great time to think about donating because also there are tax implications for individual families. So that's something to think about.

But as folks are given money, how can they choose where their dollars go? Or does it just go into one fund that can, that it's at the discretion of the hospital for how it's spent?

[Scott McKenzie]
Either one. So there, if someone simply wants to support the hospital, when they go to our donation page, which, which is at nationwidechildrens.org slash giving, or if they call our office, if they write a check, they mail in a check, they can give to a general fund, which is just simply called the area of greatest need. And that enables the hospital to do what's necessary in that given time.

And if you think just a couple of years ago, the area of greatest need suddenly out of nowhere became telemedicine, you know, think about how no one thought about telemedicine. And then suddenly one day we were giving tens of thousands of telemedicine visits a day. So, something like the area of greatest need, that's where that money gets used.

That money also gets used to pay for compassionate care for families who cannot afford their medical care. The hospital provides about $320 million a year in community benefit and uncompensated care. So, donations to the foundation help offset that.

Now, if I have a cousin who had pediatric cancer, if I have a son who is born prematurely on the donation page, I can pick specifically where I want my gift to go. If I have an affinity for a certain area, Nationwide Children's above all has always been donor directed. And so, whether it's a big gift or a small gift, I'm never under any pressure to try to twist your arm to, I have to raise a certain amount of money for cancer, or I have to raise a certain amount of money for the building.

I'm under pressure and my bosses expect me to make sure that you feel good about what you're doing.

[Dr Mike Patrick]
Yeah. So, so very important and really speaks toward the culture of an organization. And so, folks can, I mean, you can pick really anything you can say, I want this to go, as you said, to cancer care, to premature babies, to research, just a clinical care.

If there's a particular program, you know, such as the sibling clubhouse or our butterfly paws, a therapy dog program, which we, by the way, we did a podcast on that. It was episode 565. I'm going to put the link in the show notes.

In case you're wondering butterfly paws, like what, what does a therapy dog program look like at a children's hospital? But that's another one of the things.

[Scott McKenzie]
Hugely successful and interesting to our donors. And I love butterfly paws because it's really probably the only medical condition that I can, that I can think of where I can show you the science and the new England journal of medicine articles and all the highfalutin industry jargon, but I don't need to show you the science. I just need to show you a kid smiling when the dog walks in the room.

It just makes sense. And so, a lot of our donors have gratefully been supporting butterfly paws.

[Dr Mike Patrick]
Speaking of donors. So, we are a children's hospital in central Ohio, and we also have a presence up in Northern Ohio in Toledo. Of course, you know, we, it's very large hospital in Ohio and you know, you'd expect a really large, you know, best in class children's hospital in New York or California or Texas, but we are in Ohio and it's, it's a huge campus.

People come from all over. In fact, we have, you know, patient visits from all 50 States and many, many countries around the world. Do our donors also come from a large area like that?

Or are we mostly just being supported still like that bake sale by the folks in central Ohio? We're really blessed.

[Scott McKenzie]
We've, we've managed to sort of accomplish both. Nationwide children's hospital remains a gym of the local community. We remain the place where people in central Ohio bring their kids for sprained ankles and sore throats.

And so therefore we're lucky to remain a real cornerstone of philanthropy in central Ohio. But as we've spread our national and international presence, yes, our donors have followed suit. So last year we actually had 41,495 people wrote gifts to nationwide children's hospital.

They came from all 50 States in the country and probably about 10 countries nationally. We've got one donor, for example, that I've gotten to know a little bit who calls every month from Hawaii. And I used to live in Hawaii.

And so, we always talk, and you know, he makes a $15 gift every month and he has no kids and he's never been here, but he's learned of the impact that we have. And so, every month I get my Hawaii call. It's a lot of fun.

[Dr Mike Patrick]
That is, that is awesome. You guys are friends now. Yeah, exactly.

Now you mentioned that he gives $15 a month. I think a lot of folks, when you imagine, you know, a donor who is supporting the children's hospital, you know, you think, are they getting million-dollar gifts, but really $15 a month really makes a big, big difference.

[Scott McKenzie]
Right, right. You know, if $15 could buy a pair of non-slip socks for a patient who's in, who's in the rehab unit, $25 can buy a pack of diapers, small dollar amounts make big differences. And our motto has always been, you know, as Nationwide Children's often says, when your child needs a needs hospital, everything matters.

Our fundraising motto is every gift matters because it is all useful. And we're lucky we do have these gifts that generate headlines and we're thankful for those. But I always think of it as almost like these store promotions where, you know, 500 people walk through a store in a given day and then one of them, the, the bells go off and the balloons fall and they're like, Dr. Mike, you're our millionth customer. And it doesn't matter whether you were spending five bucks or whether you were spending $50,000, you were the one that was the millionth customer. And by the same token, your dollar might be the one that cures cancer. You know, I might've given millions and millions of dollars and it's gotten us to a certain point, but Dr. Mike's $1 gift might literally be the one that trips and that flips us over to curing cancer. So, every gift really does matter.

[Dr Mike Patrick]
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And we are closer and closer to that with our, especially with our center for genomic medicine and our hematology oncology department really making strides in, in cancer research.

Now the, some folks may not even have $15 a month to, to give to the hospital. Times are tight. Things are more expensive than ever.

Are there ways to support nationwide children's that don't necessarily involve money?

[Scott McKenzie]
Yes, absolutely. And one of the things that we always want to stress is that there's always a way to help children. And I look at it as I'm not a doctor.

I can't look through a microscope. I can't do a brain surgeon. The way that I can help sick children is I can talk about our, our mission and the way that the listeners can help children is to determine what makes sense for them, what fits into their life and simply get involved at whatever level, whatever activity makes sense for them.

So, for example, ways that families can help us that don't involve a financial donation of any size is simply sharing your story. You know, we recently had the Columbus marathon, and they call that the most meaningful marathon because 24 out of the 26 miles, there's a patient champion at each one of those miles, inspiring the runners. So those families are just simply sharing their experience.

I can do something like that. I can volunteer and have my pictures taken and become a patient champion and share my story that way. I can volunteer at an event.

So, something like the Columbus marathon or the, the on our sleeves 5k, a lot of our events, we need help from the community to volunteer. So maybe I don't have $5 to give, but I've got an afternoon where I can go sweat a little bit for a good cause. There are a number of ways to get involved to help spread the mission of nationwide children's hospital.

And don't be put off by the URL. If you go to nationwide children's.org slash giving, there are plenty of opportunities on our website that don't involve making a gift.

[Dr Mike Patrick]
And I think that that really is still appropriate for giving because when we give our time, we give our passions, you know, or we give our talents. Yes, yes. We give our voice.

Absolutely. That is giving. And there are many, many other things that people could spend their time, energy talents on.

But when they choose nationwide children's, not only are they, you know, helping the organization, they're helping kids, they're helping families. And that's just so, so important in particular. Yeah.

[Scott McKenzie]
Liking something on our social media, you know, you, you like Nike, you like a TV show on CBS news, whatever it is. I mean, all day long, you're clicking that you like stuff. Take, take five seconds and like nationwide children's content on social media.

It's five seconds. And it costs you nothing and you're doing it all day. Anyway, with the things, you know, you like the Chicago bulls, you like the Buckeyes, something as simple as liking us on social media is giving to our mission.

[Dr Mike Patrick]
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's increasing awareness and there may be a family out there and there's a particular treatment that is absolutely best in class at our hospital.

Or it may be something that other hospitals don't have the capability of treating especially long-term chronic things and rare diseases. But by increasing awareness, you're really helping families discover a resource that they might not otherwise have known about. And then that can make a huge difference in that family's life.

What about a planned giving? So, you know, we hear about planned gifts. We hear about estates.

But that kind of sounds like it would just involve people who have lots and lots of money who can equate it to the hospital. Tell us more about how, you know, your average family can also plan gifts and think about their estate toward the end of life.

[Scott McKenzie]
Yeah. Planned giving, as Dr. Mike says, it can conjure certain images. And I would have thought many of those same things until my parents passed away a couple of years ago.

And I found myself as the executor of their estate. Most of us, almost all of us are going to have some form of an estate. And the idea with planned giving is that there are a variety of mechanisms that you can make a donation to Nationwide Children's Hospital that will be realized when you pass.

And they don't have to be millions and millions and millions of dollars. They can be very approachable, reasonable, middle class dollar amounts. And some of them are very innovative.

There are some charitable remainder trusts, for example, that could be set up where I could make a donation to Nationwide Children's Hospital. That donation is invested. Then when I pass, let's say Dr. Mike is my heir. Well, Nationwide Children's will get my donation. But then Dr. Mike will get a dividend back so I can provide for sick children. But I can also, in the exact same vehicle, provide for my family and for my heirs.

And a lot of people just don't think about these kinds of programs. Another really innovative program that we have is called the Legacy Match. And typically, when I make a planned gift, it's part of my estate is going to go to Nationwide Children's Hospital when I pass away.

Which hopefully is in a long time. But the little bit of a bummer with that is that I don't get to see my money be put to use. I don't get the joy of seeing children that have made been had best outcomes because of my donation.

What the Legacy Match program does is I go to the hospital, and I say, I've included you in my will. And what we do is we actually match 50 percent of what you've put in your will, and we put it into action today. So hopefully it's going to be 30 years before I pass away.

But with the Legacy Match, I can make my gift, and I can let the hospital know and I can see kids benefit in the area that I want them to benefit. I can see that happen today, tomorrow, next year. And I can enjoy what I've done for children long before the day comes that I pass away.

So, there are a lot of really unique things that can be done in planned giving that can really be a celebration of someone's life. And they can make a real impact for sick kids today. And they can be aware of it, and they can be involved in the impact that they're making.

[Dr Mike Patrick]
Yeah, that is that is really quite incredible. And I don't think that folks would have just thought about that on their own. It's kind of like, you know, I'm pledging future money, but you're going to use money that you're getting someplace else, but doing it in my name and then that'll get paid back when the gift from my estate comes in.

[Scott McKenzie]
That's correct. That's absolutely correct.

[Dr Mike Patrick]
Yeah, really, really interesting.

[Scott McKenzie]
And so, philanthropy enables us to do that because one of the things that is our mission, I mentioned we had almost 41,500 donors. You know, we need to have 100,000 donors. We need to have $200,000 donor, 200,000 donors.

The needs are great. Does anyone who's aware of Nationwide Children's Hospital know? So, we need more people.

So, if I have a tool that I can try to recruit and I can engage and that Dr. Mike says, wow, that's really interesting. I can pledge future money, not pay you a penny today, but I can start seeing some benefits of what my gift will do. And then when I pass away, then the money will actually be transferred.

It's a recruitment tool and it's an excitement tool to get people involved who may not otherwise think that they can play a role in helping sick children.

[Dr Mike Patrick]
Yeah, yeah. How would one go about arranging that kind of thing? So, you know, your average family, like, oh, that sounds like a really great idea.

How do you then put that into action?

[Scott McKenzie]
Right. So once again, NationwideChildrens.org slash giving, or you could call our main desk, which is 614-355-5400. And we have a team of planned giving experts.

We have an attorney on staff. And what will happen is they'll work with your advisors, with your accountants, with whoever's appropriate for your situation to put a planned gift vehicle into action.

[Dr Mike Patrick]
Yeah. And if you're just interested and want to know more, you're not going to get a high-pressure pitch if you do reach out for more information. Right.

They're really going to be there to help walk you through the process, but not necessarily say you make you feel like you need to do more than you're really prepared to do.

[Scott McKenzie]
That's the great blessing of my job. I wouldn’t do this job anywhere else. Nationwide Children's Hospital, as I said, we've always been donor centric, and we want people to feel good.

I'm under zero pressure to say, like, Dr. Mike, come on now. Come on. I need this gift.

You know, the year's closing. Come on. You know, no sales tactics like you might encounter in other businesses are a factor at our hospital and in my team.

And that's something that that I'm really that I really cherish, and all my colleagues really cherish. So, there's no high-pressure sales tactics for anything, thankfully. Yep.

[Dr Mike Patrick]
With it being the holidays, one thing that we do again, this is another example of this is not something that we have to do, but it really does make a difference in the lives of kids and families. And that is our holiday toy drive. Tell us about that.

Yep.

[Scott McKenzie]
Holiday toy drive is great. And it's really kind of a tradition in the community. Lots of people participate.

And it's wonderful. This year, we've got a couple of specific dates set up for it, which are December 7th, December 10th, December 12th and December 14th. And if you go to Nationwide Children's dot org slash giving, you'll find all the details on that.

The toy drive is wonderful. I do want to point out that because of epidemiology, because of safety, because of the fact that we are dealing with sick kids, there are some rules that that we need people to follow for the toy drive. And those rules are all outlined on the website.

You know, unfortunately, we just we just can't take the quilt that grandma made in 1970. It's been in your cedar closet for 25 years for epidemiological reasons. But all the details are outlined on the website.

[Dr Mike Patrick]
Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, you want new toys.

Yes. I think if you're a child on Christmas, you know, the part of unwrapping something that's new for you is really an important thing. Where do the toys then go just to kids that are in the hospital?

[Scott McKenzie]
We work with family volunteer services, and so they distribute them to children in the hospital or depending on the various age levels and the need and whatnot. They could also end up at the Center for Family Safety and Healing. They could end up at close to homes.

Nothing goes to waste. So even if someone brings us something that we can't use at Nationwide Children's, we work with other local community organizations to make sure that someone can benefit from that.

[Dr Mike Patrick]
So, again, that's the holiday toy drive. And we make it really easy. You can just drive based drive through on one of those dates.

Right. There's a location and you don't even have to get out of your car to donate the toy. And again, if you go to Nationwide Children's dot org slash giving, all the details are there.

[Scott McKenzie]
Yeah. And the URL gets a little bit lengthy. So, I'm not going to give you the URL, but they're actually on our website.

If you go to Nationwide Children's dot org slash giving, there are actually wish lists in there and they will tell you specifically, you know, kind of like behavioral health is looking for the following items or family and volunteer services are looking for the following items. And a lot of our families, what they'll do is they'll actually check out these kind of wish lists and then they'll take their kids, and they'll go buy them. And it becomes a family tradition, and it becomes a way of teaching the younger generation about philanthropy.

So, the wish lists on our website are very useful.

[Dr Mike Patrick]
Yeah, I love that. So, I mean, a family could go look at the wish list together, make a list of things that they think are important and especially driven by the kids in that family. And then they can all go out shopping, they can all go together and, you know, to drop off the toys and maybe have lunch out.

I mean, really. And in that sense, you're also creating a memory for your family. And so that's just really, really terrific.

Speaking of kids getting involved, what other ways can kids and teenagers get involved in supporting the work of Nationwide Children's?

[Scott McKenzie]
Yeah, as I said, you know, probably the most obvious way is through the patient champion route. If someone's been affected, they've received care at Nationwide Children's Hospital, then we would love to tell your story. And once again, at our website, there's a way that you can fill out a form and you can tell us about yourself and our we've got a staff member who does nothing but work with patient champions and she'll get to know you and make sure that we're telling your story in a way that matches kind of like your affinity and what you want to accomplish.

But, you know, kids every year we have there'll be a nine-year-old who has a lemonade stand and brings in seventy-five dollars, just like that original bake sale in 1892. We have a number of initiatives that for the Kids Mental Health Foundation that are focused on sports teams. And so there there's a way that you can engage your entire baseball team, let's say, in raising awareness and raising money for the Kids Mental Health Foundation.

So, there are a number of ways that that younger people can get involved and can make a real difference.

[Dr Mike Patrick]
And we'll put links to the Kids Mental Health Foundation in the show notes. There's also something called the Beehive Alliance. Tell us about that.

[Scott McKenzie]
Well, the Beehive Alliance is another example of ways that just regular community people got involved. So, the Beehive Alliance is focused on pediatric mental health, and it was a group of families that some had received care at Nationwide Children's Hospital. Some simply recognized the growing need for mental health care in our community.

And so, they took it upon themselves, and they organized, and they started hosting a number of fundraisers. And now they raise a couple of hundred thousand dollars a year through a variety of really successful community events. They work really, really hard on these events.

But we didn't ask them to. We didn't twist their arm. They self-organized just like that group in 1892 self-organized.

They got together, they raised some money to help sick kids, and they knocked on our door and they said, hey, we'd like to help. Here's what we've done. And now they're a real valued member of our family.

We really trust and love and work closely with the Beehive Alliance.

[Dr Mike Patrick]
Yeah. And really, that's something that anybody could sort of duplicate. Let's say that you're on a traveling baseball team and one of the members of your team was diagnosed with cancer.

Your team might figure out a fundraising activity that raises money for even that particular kind of cancer. And if folks are interested in that sort of thing, they can go to nationwidechildrens.org giving and there'll be mechanisms there to get in touch with organizing something like that.

[Scott McKenzie]
Yeah, we have we have team members who that's their whole jobs. And so, I don't want people to feel like they're kind of lost in the dark and that they have to create some idea for a fundraiser and bring it to us. The opposite's true.

We want to make it as easy as possible. So, if you simply call our office, we have a team that does nothing but work on third party fundraisers. And so, they can sit there and say, oh, Dr. Mike, you've got a kid on a baseball team, this traveling baseball team, and you want to raise money for cancer. Here's what we know works. Here's how we can support you. Here's the tools you need.

Here's some things to look out for. And they will help you launch that fundraising effort. We don't want anybody to feel like they have to start from scratch, because thankfully, we've got 132 years’ worth of experience that we can share with you.

[Dr Mike Patrick]
Yeah, yeah, really important. A very large third-party fundraising organization is the Children's Miracle Network. And we actually did an episode on them as well.

PediaCast 543. So, if you're interested in learning more about the Children's Miracle Network, you can, we'll have that in the show notes so you can find it easily. But just in a nutshell, what is the Children's Miracle Network and how does it provide support?

[Scott McKenzie]
Yeah, Children's Miracle Network is a, is a wonderful organization that raises money nationally by working with national organizations. So, for example, Walmart is a Children's Miracle Network champion. Dairy Queen is another example.

And in that case, what happens is Children's Miracle Network, CMN, goes to the corporate national brands and they work out point of sales campaigns. So, let's say Dairy Queen, for example, they have Miracle Treat Day that is enacted nationally from coast to coast. But then the member organizations, so we are a member hospital of CMN, the Dairy Queen money that is raised in our region comes to us.

So CMN, Children's Miracle Network, is a way to have a national fundraising effort, but the dollars raised stay local. So, the Dairy Queen in Seattle, you know, their money is going to go to Seattle Children's. The Dairy Queen in Westerville, Ohio, their money is going to come to Nationwide Children's Hospital.

[Dr Mike Patrick]
So, a national effort, but money stays local. And that's important to keep in mind. And again, we'll have a link to the Children's Miracle Network episode of PediaCast that we did earlier this year.

I think it was this year. Maybe it was last year. I don't remember now.

But anyway, we'll have a link to that in the show notes. So, kind of summing things up, and it sounds like really that website that we've been saying, NationwideChildrens.org slash giving is really going to be the landing site where folks can find out all the different ways that they can support the hospital. But just sum up, you know, what are some of the biggest ways that folks can make a difference in our work?

[Scott McKenzie]
Right. Get involved, whatever that means to you, whether that means lending your voice, whether that means lending your dollars, lending your name, lending your advocacy. Every single bit of advocating for the hospital is a form of giving.

We are grateful for financial donations. We're grateful for the ones that generate the headlines, and we're grateful for the ones that don't. All of it makes a difference.

But as I said, I can't look into a microscope and I can't do brain surgery, but I can talk to people about the folks like Jeff Leonard, who does brain surgery, or I can talk to folks about people like Dr. Chris Brewer. I can tell these stories, and that's the way that I can make a difference. And each and every one of us, we can make a difference, whether it's sharing our story, making a financial donation, volunteering at an event, getting involved some way, or simply liking a social media post.

It's all the same passion and energy and commitment to doing good that fueled that very same group of people in 1892. We're just doing it differently in 2024.

[Dr Mike Patrick]
Yeah, but still, that's the same important work, for sure. We are going to have, as I have been mentioning, lots of links in the show notes over at pdacast.org. We will have a link to supporting Nationwide Children's Hospital today.

What can you do right now? You can just click on that link. And then if you'd like to learn more about the Nationwide Children's Hospital Foundation, our holiday campaign, some of the services that we have mentioned, like the Sibling Clubhouse, Butterfly Paws, we'll put links to all of those things in there.

In the show notes, so folks can find it there at pdacast.org. So, Scott McKenzie, once again, Assistant Vice President of External Relations for Nationwide Children's Hospital Foundation. Thank you so much for stopping by today.

[Scott McKenzie]
Thank you so much for the time. And thank you to everybody who's listening. Just by listening to this podcast, you are making a difference.

[Dr Mike Patrick]
We are back with just enough time to say thanks once again, to all of you for taking time out of your day and making a PediaCast a part of it really do appreciate that. Also, thanks to our guest this week, Scott McKenzie, Assistant Vice President of External Relations at Nationwide Children's Hospital Foundation. Don't forget, you can find PediaCast wherever podcasts are found or in the Apple and Google podcast apps, iHeartRadio, Spotify, SoundCloud, Amazon Music, YouTube, and most other podcast apps for iOS and Android.

Our landing site is pdacast.org. You'll find our entire archive of past programs there, along with show notes for each of the episodes, our terms of use agreement, and that handy contact page. If you would like to suggest a future topic for the program.

Don't forget, reviews are also helpful wherever you get your podcasts. We always appreciate when you share your thoughts about the show, and we love connecting with you on social media. You'll find us on Facebook, Instagram threads, LinkedIn, and Twitter X, simply search for PediaCast.

Also, don't forget about our sibling podcast, PediaCast CME. That stands for Continuing Medical Education. It's similar to this program.

We do turn the science up a couple notches and offer free CME credit for those who listen. And it is category one credit that includes, by the way, doctors, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, pharmacists, psychologists, social workers, and dentists. And it's because Nationwide Children's is jointly accredited by all of those professional organizations.

It's likely we offer the exact credits you need to fulfill your state's continuing medical education requirements. Shows and details are available at the landing site for that program, PediaCast CME.org. You can also listen wherever podcasts are found.

Simply search for PediaCast CME. Thanks again for stopping by. And until next time, this is Dr. Mike saying, stay safe, stay healthy, and stay involved with your kids. So long, everybody.
 

This entry was posted in PediaCast and tagged , , , , , , by Dr. Mike. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *