Marietta Shrine Club surpasses $125,000 Gifted to Pediatric Therapy
The Marietta Shrine Club has been donating gifts to Memorial Health System’s Department of Pediatric Therapy since 1993. The first gift from the Shriners had helped pediatric therapy build a playground on the campus that better engaged patients and promoted a positive atmosphere at Marietta Memorial Hospital. Most recently, Shriners donated a gift of $6,000 to help purchase equipment so that we can expand our services and accommodate adolescent patients at our new location in Belpre, Ohio.
Over this time, the Shriners have provided funding to build three additional outdoor playgrounds at three separate locations as the department expanded from a team of two, a single pediatric occupational therapist and a pediatric physical therapist, to a team of four, a pediatric occupational therapist, two pediatric physical therapists, and four pediatric speech-language pathologists.
The new Belpre location (1804 Washington Blvd), increases the square footage of the department which allows for more children and young adults to be treated in an efficient space for services such as physical, occupational, and speech-language therapy.
“Marietta Shrine Club has been a faithful financial support of the Pediatric Therapy Department for over 25 years,” says Carol Armann, former pediatric therapist, and department supervisor. “The Shriners, again, stepped up and are providing funding for additional equipment for this new department. Our pediatric therapy team is forever grateful for their ongoing support.”
“Our mission as members of the Marietta Shrine Club is to support the Shriners Hospitals for Children, a network of nonprofit medical facilities across North America,” said Bill Donnelly, a member of the Marietta Shrine Club. “The Marietta Shrine Club has been fortunate to also receive some funds from our members and community friends earmarked for children living in Washington County. The Marietta Shrine Club has been able to support both Memorial Health System’s Pediatric Therapy and provide financial assistance for medical needs to many children living here in Washington County.”
Our pediatric therapy has a comprehensive team approach where play-based therapy is used to address developmental delays and other disorders. Recently, Levi Stout was a patient within the pediatric therapy department. His care is rare and started with strep throat. Later, his illness developed into a neurological disorder- Sydenham Chorea (SC). The pediatric therapy team helped Levi regain the strength and mobility he had lost due to his illness. His rehabilitation was a team effort between his own motivation, his care-team, and his entire family. The main thing Levi wanted to accomplish from therapy was to be able to play his trumpet again, as the illness had taken away his ability to do so. After months of hard work and dedication, Levi is now once again active and playing his trumpet for the Marching Warriors.
Marietta Shrine Club was founded in 1946 and is affiliated with Aladdin Shriners in Columbus, Ohio. The Marietta Shrine Club supports pediatric therapy with the hopes of maximizing a child’s quality of life and helping them to have full productive lives. Including the most recent gift from the Marietta Shrine Club, they have donated over $125,000 to pediatric therapy throughout their years of giving.
With the thoughtful and irreplicable dedication from The Marietta Shrine Club, we know we can always depend on the Shriners to align with our mission and values now, as well as in the future with any other initiatives we take to provide world-class care for our patients. “We love the Shriners because they love our kids,” concluded Armann.
Memorial Health Foundation, a not-for-profit organization, has been dedicated to building a healthier community through education, special patient assistance funds, charity care, state-of- the-art medical equipment, and funding to areas where the need is greatest throughout the Memorial Health System and our community.
