The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Hillcrest Hospital NICU unit gifted
Mom, daughter, Newbury students give back to Hillcrest Hospital NICU staff, families
In a tightly-packed kitchen full of families, students and nurses, the air was full of optimism and expressions of appreciation were everywhere.
Amid the Newborn Intensive Care Unit of Hillcrest Hospital in Mayfield Heights, Newbury elementary and high school students and teachers gathered with nurses, NICU families and Newbury High School science teacher Taylor Voelker to deliver their donations on Feb. 14.
There were children’s book and teddy bear sets for the families, MRI/imagingsafe onesies for the babies and a dessert bar for hospital staff.
Voelker, whose daughter was born prematurely, organized some of the donations in order to give back to the hospital and the nurses who helped save her daughter’s life in the NICU. Poppy Rae was born Feb. 3, 2018, about 11 weeks too early. She spent 51 days in the NICU at Hillcrest.
“Once she was born, all we ever wanted to do was give back,” Voelker told her captivated audience, which included a happily babbling Poppy.
“When we were in the NICU, we received a ‘Cuddle Bear’ set (book and teddy bear),” Voelker continued. “And a friend of mine works for Usborne books, and I said ‘what would it take?’, so she told me what it would take to do it. So I went to administration... pitched my idea. And everybody was on board, so
we ran with it.”
The final result was 130 book-bear sets, enough for all the infant patients in the NICU plus extras.
“You make friends when you’re there (the NICU), it becomes your second family,” Voelker said. “We keep in contact with them, all their babies are doing great.”
The Newbury Elementary Student Council also organized a hot chocolate sale in their school to raise money for the donated onesies.
Student Council President Mason Towey said that the feeling of being able to give back was “amazing.”
“Especially because my mom used to work here,”
Mason added. “She was a nurse in the NICU, so it feels really amazing.”
Dr. Jeffrey Schwersenski observed as the donations were delivered at Hillcrest. He had been one of the Hillcrest team that took care of Poppy Rae.
“We love to see them back,” Schwersenski said. “Because, when they leave us, they’re still little babies. We don’t recognize them and they’ve grown so much and gotten so much bigger. It’s just fabulous to see how well they’re doing.”
The doctor added that the Hillcrest NICU usually holds somewhere around 24 to 28 babies.
“They’re amazing (the Voelkers), their involvement
means so much to the other families,” said Registered Nurse Laura Wohl, who was the first nurse to take care of Poppy after her delivery. “And to us, to see them come back, that’s one of the most rewarding parts of our job.”
Wohl and Nurse Manager Tracy Park added that another former NICU family came to visit them that morning. They said that the unit holds reunions every year for babies born within the past two years.
“We have them come back as superheroes — it’s a superhero theme,” Park said. “It’s really nice to be able to see them and remember them and remember maybe how sick they’d been, but now that they’re doing well. So it’s really nice.”
A team, Poppy’s Posse, is set to participate in the March of Dimes walk on May 11. Anyone interested in walking or donating is encouraged to search for the team at http://marchforbabies.org/.
Voelker is also working on a Paint for Preemies event to raise money for her team. Those interested can contact Voelker at taylor. voelker@newburyschools.org.