Fundraiser supports camp for transplant kids
The Thrift Box, a volunteer-run second-hand store on Lincoln Avenue in Willow Glen, has a noble mission: using its proceeds to support Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford. But its annual campaign, which was launched this month, has a more specific purpose and it’s one that most people are entirely unaware of.
Every year since 1995, the hospital’s staff has organized a weeklong summer camp for pediatric transplant patients at St. Dorothy’s Rest, a redwood-filled haven about two hours north of Silicon Valley. The kids who go there, who range in age from 8 to 18, take part in most of the activities you’d expect at a camp, from swimming and crafts to skits and marshmallow roasts over a campfire. But the camp is specially equipped with a nursing staff, medication and medical supplies and food to handle special dietary needs.
The 200-plus members of the Thrift Box’s San Jose Auxiliary — one of seven auxiliaries in the Bay Area that supports the hospital — are aiming to raise $90,000 to support the fund the camp this year and next year. It’s a big goal to accomplish before the campaign ends April 1, but it’s tough to deny the camp’s impact. Kirsten Cotton-Shel
don, a recreation therapy and child-life specialist at Lucile Packard, coordinates the camp and says what makes it really special is that the one thing that makes all the campers stand out in a crowd — their transplant status — fades into the background among their peers.
“It’s where being a kid comes first and having a transplant comes second,” she told a crowd of more than 100 women this month at a Thrift Box’s San Jose Auxiliary luncheon at Cinnabar Hills Golf Course. “For the families, camp means having a place where their child can go, meet people, have friends, have the normal experiences you want for your child.”
To learn more about the fundraising campaign, go to www.thriftbox.org/fundraising.php. FARM-FRESH FOOD: There are plenty of foodrelated “national days” to go around, from National Doughnut Day and National Pizza Day to National Margarita Day (which was actually Wednesday). But the one happening this Friday is actually good for you. It’s National CSA Sign-Up Day, when people are encouraged to register to receive a weekly box of produce grown at local farms.
The Community Supported Agriculture movement isn’t new, but a combination of economic forces and weather events like the recent drought has put a serious dent in its progress: There are only two registered CSA farms in Santa Clara County: Veggielution at San Jose’s Emma Prusch Farm Park and Spade & Plow Organics in San Martin.
“Farms like Spade & Plow and Veggielution rely heavily on these early season sign ups generated from National CSA Day to help support the coming spring and summer abundance,” Spade & Plow co-owner
Sam Thorp said. “Not only does it promote local business and help farms financially, it is a great way for families to partake in the bounty that Santa Clara County produce provides.”
The farms provide a range of veggie box sizes, pick-up or delivery options and add-ons like baked goods from San Jose’s 2nd Story Bakery. Check out what they have to offer at http://veggielution.org/ farm-box or www.spadeandplow.com.