The Aultman Foundation recently received two special donations from some special kids in our community. The donations were both made toward Jayani’s Treasure Chest, which provides toys for children of all ages when they are admitted to the hospital, visiting the emergency room or undergoing a procedure at Aultman or any satellite locations.

The first donation came from Lily, a seventh-grader at Jackson Middle School. For the past four years, Lily has given up having a birthday party or receiving gifts for her birthday. Instead, she asks her family members and friends to make book donations, which she collects throughout the whole summer. At the end of the season, she delivers the books to Aultman with her family. This year, Lily collected over 1,000 books, which is almost four times as many books as she donated last year! 

The next donation came from brothers Dominic and Rocco, who are students at St. Paul’s School in North Canton. When they were given the chance to act as “Principal for a Day” last school year, they used their role to help others! They asked all students at St. Paul’s to donate toys and books for Jayani’s Treasure Chest. At the end of the summer, the boys stopped by The Aultman Foundation offices to drop off several bags of donations.

In addition to helping stock Jayani’s Treasure Chest, some of the donated books will be given to the Reach Out and Read program. Reach Out and Read is both a children’s literacy program and a parental engagement program. Physicians at Aultman Medical Group’s Canton Family Medicine promote early literacy during well-child visits beginning at just six months old. Each child is given a book to take home, with the physician giving guidance to the parent on the importance of reading to their children.

Jayani’s Treasure Chest and Reach Out and Read are just two of the many programs that accept donations through The Aultman Foundation. The “giving” branch of the foundation humbly accepts donations from patients, family members, community members, organizations and foundations that are looking to support and enhance services at Aultman, and in turn, help patients and their families.

Along with memorial gifts, planned gifts and charitable bequests, donations are accepted to a variety of areas including the Aultman Cancer Center, the Happy Tails program, Aultman College and the NICU. To learn more about giving options offered by The Aultman Foundation, please visit www.aultmanfoundation.org and click on “Giving.”