Spring 2011

Angela’s House Holiday Party

Dear Mr. Policastro and the staff of Angela’s House

I want to let you know how much my family and I enjoyed the absolutely magical party on Sunday! It was such a special day for us I cannot even begin to express our gratitude!

My daughter Caroline, your Angela’s House child, was positively entranced by every aspect of the day – from the balloons to Abby Cadabby to the “dancing girls”! My son got his face painted and never wanted to wash it off!

The event was an absolute delight from the moment we walked in. The choir singing, the teddy bears and balloons and the wonderful food were just some of the components that made this so special. Suffice to say that the gifts for the families are so overwhelming we are still processing the fact that they were so generously given to us! It was a privilege to be at this event and to look around the room at the happy faces of those beautiful children who carry such a large burden in their young lives. There are no words to express what a difficult personal journey you have been through that has brought you to this point, but I assure you that you have touched so many lives with your caring generosity!

Our family is so grateful for the wonderful assistance your organization has given us the past few months. I hope you and everyone at Angela’s House are aware of how much you do all year long and how much it means to those families who need direction. I have been fortunate enough to work with Laurie Przystawski and Janet Flood on obtaining Care at Home for my daughter. These women were instrumental in not only obtaining this program but giving me a smile on my tough days! Both of these wonderful ladies continue to reach out and offer their help and guidance to our family and should be applauded for putting their hearts and soul into their jobs!

Once again, thank you for an amazing event and for all you continue to do to help others! Have a wonderful holiday season and a very Happy New Year!

Sincerely

Caroline’s Mom

Message from the Executive Director

Bob Policastro

You will see by looking through this Newsletter how busy we have been. On the front cover we have great photos and a thank you letter from one of our families about our amazing family Holiday Party. After many years of talking about doing a family get together we were finally able to do it. Our Sponsor, Arthur Krantz from “We Care for Kids” was fantastic along with IBEW Local 25, from Hauppauge, which hosted the party in its Union Hall. There were many things that needed to come together to make this all possible. When it was all done it was as if we flew 500 people to Disney for a day. One of my favorite parts of the day was seeing the children’s parents together because they could better understand they are not alone.

The economy continues to be difficult, so we are even more grateful for all the community support we receive. We cannot succeed in our mission without the generosity of these donations. This has become increasingly more important because government funding and grants are being cut. The money we raise is used to help the children we assist when insurance or government programs will not cover necessary medical supplies, equipment and other resources needed to support children with special health care needs that are medically fragile, chronically ill or living with a life threatening illness.

We continue to create workshops for the families to offer educational and emotional resources to assist them. This past fall we held an event with guest speaker Ron Villano. Ron is a licensed therapist who talked about his book “The Zing”. He talked about the tools in his book that help people. Ron has learned firsthand how important these tools are after the tragic loss of his son Michael.

We are moving forward in our effort to build Angela’s House III. There is no word yet if this home if definitely in the budget. Hopefully our saving grace is the fact that we save NYS money with our homes and we keep our children from being sent out of state for care.

It continues to be our dream to create a respite home that can offer parents temporary care of their medically fragile children so that they can get a break when needed. Thank you for all your support.

Thanks to Our Supporters

Save the date

Angel of Hope Candlelight Ceremony December 3, 2011 4pm, Eisenhower Park For all families that have lost a child.

Angela‛s House Spring Gala

Arthur Krantz is awarded a proclamation from Smithtown Supervisor Patrick Vecchio

Parents from Angela’s House give an award and roses to Arthur & wife Helene

With over 300 guests in attendance at the Watermill in Smithtown, March 31st proved to be a night to remember. We were pleased to honor Arthur Krantz, President and CEO of PRC Industries, in a night that truly illustrated the philosophy of Angela’s House. The evening had all of the elements of a wonderful family celebration. The whole room was captivated by Arthur’s generosity, character, and humor. It was our night to thank him for giving our children and families a memorable holiday party.

Your Gifts Make a Difference

Angela’s House uses public programs, grants and donations to assist families caring for their children with special health care needs that are medically fragile, chronically ill or living with a life threatening illness. Your donations and assistance with fund raising allows us to ease the financial burdens our families experience with the day-to-day care of these children. These funds are very important especially for children who need help right away but often must wait months to get assistance through public programs. These funds are used to purchase medical supplies, medical care, therapeutic equipment, and other items not covered by insurance. Below are a few of the families and children we have helped.

Donations in Honor of

• Kyle Gaunay
• Terri Daley
• Christopher Cannone
• Thomas McGrath
• Emma Nelson
• Austin Wasielewski

Donations in Lieu of Flowers

In a time of grieving, this family displayed great generosity by requesting donations be made to Angela’s House in lieu of flowers

Graham Gurcan

Donations in Memory of

• Dominic Capone
• Zachary Cashin
• Patricia Driscoll
• Athena Fogarty
• Kyle Herring
• Brandon LeMaire
• Kelly Ann O’Connell
• Abigail Peyman
• Paulie Poloskey
• Keira Sweeney
• Andrew Baierlein
• Ellen Bellofatto
• Antonella DiGiovanni
• Mary English
• Kelly Anne Ficken
• Graham Gurcan
• Katelyn Hesselberg
• Nicholas Mogavero
• Cpl Robert Pope
• Patrick Steimel

This event helped to bring about awareness and raise money for fifteen childhood diseases and illnesses. Oheka Castle generously provided a venue for this enchanting evening. Our student volunteers from the Hauppauge School District did an exceptional job performing music, escorting guests, selling raffles, serving food and they also made a beautiful presentation. The donated baskets that filled the grand ball room were a site to see.

Save These Dates