{"id":6835,"date":"2010-03-05T16:06:47","date_gmt":"2010-03-05T20:06:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/?p=6835"},"modified":"2017-06-29T09:06:30","modified_gmt":"2017-06-29T13:06:30","slug":"hospitalized-children-benefit-from-fiu-students-altruism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/2010\/03\/hospitalized-children-benefit-from-fiu-students-altruism\/","title":{"rendered":"Hospitalized children benefit from FIU students\u2019 altruism."},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the course of a week in February 2010, Florida International University (FIU) students celebrated hundreds of kids in local children\u2019s hospitals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe success of our \u2018A Tribute to Children\u2019 week was truly a dream come true,\u201d said Megan Lee<\/strong>, finance major in the College of Business Administration and vice president, community service for FIU\u2019s Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda (FBLA-PBL). \u201cWe wanted to get the message across that this week is all about the kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

FBLA-PBL partnered with other organizations on campus—including FIU Dance Marathon, Phi Mu, Phi Delta Epsilon and Sigma Chi—to raise funds for the Children\u2019s Miracle Network<\/a> (CMN), a non-profit organization dedicated to saving the lives of children through donations to its connected local children\u2019s hospitals.<\/p>\n

Energy and imagination mark activities.<\/em><\/p>\n

At the Monday kickoff, “Miracle Ball Day,” the students garnered attention by rolling an eight-foot beach ball around campus, while asking for donations and getting signatures on the ball. The week concluded with a Target-sponsored \u201cChildren\u2019s Miracle Gala,\u201d a semi-formal dinner dedicated to providing the children with a night of enjoyment.<\/p>\n

\"Hospitalized
The \u201cTribute to Children\u201d began on February 8, 2010 with \u201cMiracle Ball Day.\u201d Community service committee members Abdel Perera (blue shirt), Daniel Fernandez (orange hat) and Lilian Dennis (white Miami Children’s Hospital t-shirt) encouraged students to donate to Miami Children\u2019s Hospital and sign the Miracle Ball, shown here in the Betty B. Chapman Plaza.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In between, FBLA-PBL hosted \u201cRaising Awareness Day\u201d—at which volunteers raised money by selling custom-made buttons, CMN paper balloons and cupcakes—and \u201cKids Giving to Kids Day,\u201d during which elementary school kids wrote \u201cget well soon\u201d cards to their peers in Miami Children\u2019s Hospital.<\/p>\n

\"Raising
February 9, 2010 was \u201cRaising Awareness Day.\u201d FBLA-PBL members, along with members from its partnering organizations, volunteered at an information table situated outside Green Library. In addition to information, the tables offered donors the chance to buy commemorative items such as \u201cI Saved a Child\u201d buttons and lollipops.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Kids
February 10, 2010 focused on \u201cKids Giving to Kids Day.\u201d Committee members Megan Lee, Abdel Perera, Lilian Dennis and Cristina Rodriguez show \u201cget well soon\u201d cards prepared by students at FIU’s Creative Learning Center to be given to kids at Miami Children’s Hospital.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On a \u201cDay of Service,\u201d three FIU FBLA-PBL members took a more hands-on approach by spending the day at Miami\u2019s Children Hospital volunteering in the playroom and participating in special activities with the children, including a sing-a-long and arts and crafts.<\/p>\n

\"Day
February 11, 2010 was \u201cDay of Service.\u201d Clockwise: Megan Lee, Jose Betancourt and Francoise Blanco paid a visit to children at Miami Children’s Hospital and helped them prepare maracas with cans of soda and toilet paper.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe members are to be congratulated for their creativity and outstanding efforts in surpassing their fundraising goal of $1,200,\u201d said Maria Moldes, CMN director at Miami\u2019s Children Hospital, who attended Friday night\u2019s gala.<\/p>\n

\"Children's
The week\u2019s activities culminated on February 12, 2010 with the \u201cChildren’s Miracle Gala.\u201d Maria Moldes, center, received a $1,300 check representing the total funds collected during the weeklong \u201cTribute to Children.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The evening raised $800, propelling the total funds raised for the entire week to $1,300, all of which went directly to CMN.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe gala was an honor to attend,\u201d said Jennifer Iguina, whose son\u2019s congenital heart defect has required three open-heart surgeries and other procedures since his May 2007 birth. \u201cWe were amazed to see how the students are so involved and so into helping these children. It was truly amazing to share our story and give back to CMN and FIU.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Miracle
A new FIU tradition is born. The \u201cMiracle Ball\u201d is positioned alongside the Deuxieme Maison Cube, one of FIU\u2019s most enduring and meaningful symbols, said to bring good luck on exams to those who spin it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the course of a week in February 2010, Florida International University (FIU) students celebrated hundreds of kids in local children\u2019s hospitals. \u201cThe success of our \u2018A Tribute to Children\u2019 week was truly a dream come true,\u201d said Megan Lee, finance major in the College of Business Administration and vice president, community service for FIU\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[242,509,534,846,873,888,946,966,1277,1363,1583,1729,1844,1919,2130,2132,2439],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6835"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6835"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6835\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28673,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6835\/revisions\/28673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}