Milagros para Niños for Children’s Hospital Boston

Pulsating Latin-American rhythms reverberated as Milagros para Niños (Miracles for Children) began. The three-day fundraiser for Children's Hospital Boston opened in the hospital's Patent Entertainment Center Friday, July 31, with a radiothon in partnership with media partner Costa Eagle Broadcasting. Dozens of Spanish-speaking volunteers handled ringing phontes. Latino patient families shared their medical success stories through on-air interviews on Power 800 AM and 92.1 FM. International patient families from Venezuela and the Dominican Republic also called in with their inspiring stories.

Canobie Lake Park hosted Children's Hospital Boston Day on Saturday, the second day of the radiothon. Dozens of volunteers from Children's and the local community, sporting yellow Milagros t-shirts, led games, made arts and crafts and painted temporary tattoos. Local Latino artists performed for hundreds of families streaming in and out of Canobie's Dancehall Theatre. A portion of the proceeds from the day's ticket sales was donated to Children's.

The Milagros celebration capped off at the Comcast Latino Family Festival at Fenway Park, hosted by El Mundo newspaper and the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. The event attracted thousands of festival-goers, who enjoyed musical performaces by local musicians and salsa legend Victor Manuelle. A special 15-minute Milagros para Niños presentation featured a Children's video, with messages from Enrique Iglesias and Alejandro Sanz, and the powerful story of the Melendez family. After being misdiagnosed by doctors in Puerto Rico, Kamilla Mejia Melendez, age 3, was diagnosed and treated for a tumor that covered 80 percent of her body.

"The best way to share Children's history of excellence is having our patients and their families share stories in their own words," says Andrés Treviño, project manager for Milagros. "We know that every strong community will give back in some way or another. Milagros para Niños is a celebration of Latino kids, their amazing stories and people who care for them at Children's."

Luz Maria Davila, a Children's Hospital Boston Neonatal Intensive Care Unit nurse who has worked for the hospital for 15 years, was also recognized for her work in saving children's lives. Introduced by radio personality and master of ceremonies Jose Masso, Davila, who was raised in Puerto Rico, shared her thoughts on why she is proud to work at Children's and encouraged festival-goers to support the campaign.

Milagros para Niños is Children's first-ever Latino fundraising campaign to raise money and awareness in support of Children's clinical care and research for our increasingly diverse patient population. Latinos are the largest minority group in Massachusetts with more than half a million Latinos living in the state. Of the 500,000 children seen here at Children's every year, approximately one-third are Latino. At Martha Elliot in Jamaica Plain, 77% of our patients are Latino.

"The Latino community is very important for Children's, and we are proud to serve all families in need of our services," said Sandra Fenwick, president and chief operating officer. "This campaign has allowed us to share our expertise and health information with thousands of families. It also encourages our community to support our life-saving care and world-changing research."

How You Can Help

Donate Online
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Look for Upcoming Events
Check back for information on other initiatives this fall, including the Latino Telethon with Univision.

Contact:	Andrés Treviño
Phone:	(857)218-3190
Email:	milagrosparaninos @chtrust.org

You can raise needed funds to help the kids at Children’s Hospital Boston by holding your own community fundraiser.
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