LIGHTING UP SCREENS
Beaumont Hospital’s ‘Moonbeams’ event for sick child patients to go virtual
Four years ago, crowds of people first showed up outside Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak each night in December to shine lights for pediatric patients inside, but the event is going virtual this holiday season due to the pandemic.
The Moonbeams for Sweet Dreams effort in past years has drawn everyone from parents and children to firefighters and police illuminating the night with emergency lights and even helicopter spotlights.
Inside, pediatric patients shone their own flashlights from windows as volunteers sent a bright signal of support for several minutes.
“While it’s not safe for hundreds of people to gather outside Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak this year,” hospital officials said in a news release, “the Beaumont team found a way to turn the fourth annual Moonbeams for Sweet Dreams program into a virtual experience.”
The virtual program runs from Dec. 1 to Dec. 31.
People are asked to upload videos and photos online at beaumont.org/moonbeams.
They can click on “Share Your Story” and be prompted to share a video or a photo. People can record or upload from the page and will be asked for a brief description.
Submissions are added to a gallery and available to share on social media.
“Moonbeams for Sweet Dreams is always incredibly meaningful to our patients and families,” said Kathleen Grobbel, child life supervisor at Beaumont Children’s, in a statement Monday. “We are all looking forward to seeing the crowds outside the hospital again next year. However, I’m thrilled we will be able to continue the program virtually this year.”
Grobbel in past years said the Moonbeams event began as a way to calm young patients’ fears and trauma.
Pediatric patients are known to sometimes have a hard time
settling in for a night’s sleep during the holidays.
Child patients unable to leave their rooms can feel isolated in the hospital as the rest of the world moves on, and the chance to share in a lighted communion with those outside helped many young patients go to bed with smiles on their faces, according to Grobbel.
This month Beaumont will compile some of the submitted videos to create
a video to share with young patients, as well as on Beaumont’s social media channels.
Those who submit videos are asked to limit them to 30 seconds or less. People are asked to identify themselves, wish children sweet dreams and happy holidays, shine a flashlight, and consider sharing some of their holiday decorations and lights.
During December each child admitted to the hospital pediatrics or intensive care unit gets a Moonbeams backpack containing fair lights, glow sticks, a flashlight and light-up toys.