THE MARIO LEMIEUX FOUNDATION
Created in 1993 by hockey legend Mario Lemieux. In that year, Mario was enjoying the greatest season of his brilliant career and on pace to establish a new NHL scoring record. Then he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease. After a successful battle with Hodgkin's, Mario is now 17 years cancer free and his experience led him to focus on ways to assist those not so fortunate. He devotes much of his time to the Foundation raising funds to help reach the ultimate goal: a cure for cancer. The main objective of the Mario Lemieux Foundation is to fund promising research projects being conducted by the most talented scientists in the field.
In 2000 Nathalie Lemieux created Austin's Playroom Project following Nathalie and Mario's personal experience while caring for their profoundly premature infant son at Magee-Women's Hospital. As they were tending to young Austin, there was no place to provide a comfortable calming environment and engage his sisters Lauren and Stephanie. It was then that Nathalie devised this idea to raise funds for playrooms at area hospitals.
In 2005, the Lemieux Family Center was established at the Children's Home of Pittsburgh with a $2 million gift - an initiative that supports and nurtures families during the difficult process of transitioning from hospital care to life back at home. A gift of $1.6 million to The Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC established the Mario Lemieux Foundation Endowment for Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Research. The gift also provided funding for two new playrooms: an Austin's Playroom on the sixth floor for in-patients and The Lemieux Sibling Center in the main lobby which is dedicated to patient siblings.
Additionally, the Lemieux Foundation supports other organizations such as the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine and the Leukemia Society.
ANIMAL FRIENDS
Animal Friends, a premier
companion animal resource center, is committed to nurturing and promoting the
animal-human bond and creating a community where our relationship with
companion animals is guided by compassion.
It is our vision to:
Reduce the number of unwanted
animals through aggressive spay/neuter programs.
Provide for the well-being of
companion animals in need, while adhering to our no-kill tradition, and find
each a lifelong, loving home.
Promote the animal-human bond
through education and outreach programs, and act as an advocate on behalf of
animals in crisis and as an enforcer of their rights and protection.
We are deeply committed to these
goals while ensuring the financial security and stability of the organization
for future generations.
NILMDTS
Pregnancy and birth are miraculous journeys. This amazing time of life is full of mystery, anticipation, joy, hope, and wonder. Feeling the powerful energy of birth and new life, watching as a new family is born unto each other. These things humble and amaze. These are the things that we celebrate when a baby is born.
But there is another aspect of pregnancy and birth. There is an unexpected place in this journey where some families may find themselves. When a baby dies, a world is turned upside down. There is confusion, sadness, fear, and uncertainty that cannot be explained. There is sorrow where there should have been joy. During this time, it might be impossible for families to know what they might need in order to heal in the future.
This is the place where the Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Foundation gently provides a helping hand and a healing heart. For families overcome by grief and pain, the idea of photographing their baby may not immediately occur to them. Offering gentle and beautiful photography services in a compassionate and sensitive manner is the heart of this organization. The soft, gentle heirloom photographs of these beautiful babies are an important part of the healing process. They allow families to honor and cherish their babies, and share the spirits of their lives. The NILMDTS mission statement is to introduce remembrance photography to parents suffering the loss of a baby with the gift of professional portraiture. We believe these images serve as an important step in the family's healing process by honoring their child's legacy.
The Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Foundation (NILMDTS) administers a network of more than 7,000 volunteer photographers in the United States and 25 countries. At a family's request, a NILMDTS Affiliated Photographer will come to your hospital or hospice location and conduct a sensitive and private portrait session. The portraits are then professionally retouched and presented to the families on an archival DVD or CD that can be used to print portraits of their cherished baby.
Our entire network of affiliated photographers graciously donate their time and talents to our families and we are proud to be able to offer our services at no cost. Your Donations are greatly needed and greatly appreciated.
OPERATION: LOVE REUNITED
If you
have ever been through a military deployment, there are no words to explain how
hard it is to send the father or mother of your children off to some foreign,
dangerous land, leaving you all behind...alone.
It's indescribable to watch their faces light up as their mother or
father comes up the stairs of the airport after months, possibly a year or
more, of not hugging each other.
Emotions fly through the main lobby, it's so very good to have them
home. Your base's Family Support
Squadron will help you with your deployment.
But the last thing on your mind when your wife or husband arrives home
after a 4 to 18 month tour is capturing all this love- on film. Most people are so overwhelmed with emotions
they forget to simply point and shoot the camera they are grasping of their
child's first hug, or that single tear of relief from a mother being able to
hold her twenty year old son again. With
the help of Operation: Love ReUnited and local photographers near your base,
you can.
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Thank you for hiring Joanne and supporting her efforts to support these and many other causes throughout our community!