Angela's House Blog

  • December 6th, 2015 by Bob

    Angela’s House Holiday Parties

    Two day filled with pure joy as the Angela’s House children, siblings and parents

    enjoyed the holiday parties on December 5th and 6th, 2015

     

  • December 5th, 2015 by Bob

    Angel of Hope Candle light vigil 2015

    On December 5th, 2015 we had The Angel of Hope Candle light vigil.

    A beautiful an hope filled night remembering the children that have passed.

  • November 25th, 2015 by Bob

    Turkey Trot for Angela’s House

    The Angela’s House team

    Angela’s House Runners at the Smithtown Kickers Turkey Trot

  • November 12th, 2015 by Angela's House

    NEWSLETTER Fall 2015

    Angela’s House offers programs and supports and will coordinate services to families who need care for their medically frail children at home. For children who cannot be cared for at home, Angela’s House I, II and III are specially designed homes that provide a warm environment with 24-hour nursing care to accommodate the children’s complex medical and physical needs.

    Angela’s House Golf Outing

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    Our 13th annual golf outing was sold out on June 8th at the Indian Hills Country Club in Northport. Thanks to our sponsors Tom Collins/Chris Panatier 9-11 Memorial Foundation Inc., SJS Construction Co., SIW Inc., and Empire National Bank. Guests enjoyed the private golf course with several holes overlooking the water, a full breakfast, lunch, cocktail hour and dinner. Our Honoree Tom LaCascia made a very inspiring speech during our dinner.

    Your Gifts Make a Difference

    Donations can be sent to:
    Angela’s House
    PO Box 5052
    Hauppauge, NY 11788

    Angela’s House is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization; your gift is tax deductible to the full extent of the law.

    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 fundraising 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 assist in our programs.

    Below are a few of the children and their families from our summer party at White Post Farms

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    Donations in Memory of

    Frances Borrelli
    Dominic Capone
    Zachary Cashin
    Lauren Cummins
    Antonella DiGiovanni
    Evan Dragan
    Bonnie Farrell
    Kelly Anne Ficken
    Graham Gurcan
    Geraldine Harrington
    Kyle Herring
    Kaitlyn Hesselbirg
    Philomenia Lampone
    Zach Merlin
    Brandon LeMaire
    Joan Murray
    Emma Nelson
    Adam Nevins
    Robert Oakley
    Abigail Peyman
    Paulie Poloskey
    Angela Policastro
    Jake Spadalik

    Donations in Honor of

    Caroline Caggiano
    Gina DiMartino
    Grace Feeney
    Michael Iovane Jr.
    Thomas McGrath
    Ella Rose Monaco 
    Caroline Serva 
    Hannah Shikora
    Jake Zane

     

    Donations in Lieu
    of Flowers

    In a time of grieving the family requests donations be made to Angela’s House in lieu of flowers

    John McGrath

    Planned Gifts

    For information on making a Planned Gift, please contact Angela’s House so that we may assist you. Gift opportunities include: Bequests, Life Insurance, Real Estate, Stock, Trusts and Wills.

    Message from the Executive Director Bob Policastro

    bob-policastroThe front cover of this newsletter showcases all the excitement and fun we had at our walk in September. The spirited crowd of people had a great time supporting our newest annual fundraiser! In planning this walk we ran into a common problem we have on a reoccurring basis; we often encounter difficulties when trying to explain what challenges or ailments a medically fragile, chronically ill or technology dependent child may have. Even after advocating and working with families for 26 years, I still find this particularly challenging – how do you explain the wide scope of disabilities, accidents or rare diseases that our children have?

    During a recent discussion, a suggestion was made to log all of the many different diagnoses of the children we assist. Upon completion of the list, it was not a surprise to our staff to see we had hundreds of conditions/ailments listed. How could we best showcase the breath and complex nature of these diagnoses to allow the general public to learn about the challenges faced by Angela’s House children?

    The idea of a new design, as shown on the cover, with approximately 200 diagnoses listed wrapped around the Angela’s House logo
    seemed like the perfect solution. It includes the terminology professionals use to describe our children’s medical state, and helps us educate the public on the various different (common and rare) conditions/ailments our kids are battling on a daily basis. We decided that this design would serve as a great image for the T-shirt for our first annual walk.

    The support we continue to receive in the community is miraculous! We could never meet the needs of our mission without your help! The donations made allow us to purchase the medical supplies and equipment that are needed to safely care for medically frail children. They also allow us to guarantee that our three homes have state-of -the art equipment, so that we can offer the highest level of care that these children deserve. The monetary support enables us to host a summer party for the Angela’s House children and their families. It gives us an opportunity to give the kids gifts, like handmade dolls, stuffed animals or books. All of these efforts help show families of children that are medically frail that they are not alone and the community is thinking about them.

    Through this generosity you are providing the gift of hope – which is the greatest gift of all. Thank you for your kindness.

    98531_Angela House Fall_LRSave the Date: Angel of Hope Candlelight Vigil

    December 5th, 2015 – 4:00 PM at Eisenhower Park

    For all families that have lost a child.

    Thanks to Our Supporters

     

    Fishing Fundraiser

    fishingOver 200 people filled our boats for the 8th Annual Angela’s House Fishing Fundraiser! What a fun event! Captain Chris from the charter boat Fishtail does a great job coordinating all the boats. Guests enjoyed fishing, eating and lounging in the beautiful Great South Bay.

    Holiday Inn Westbury Hawaiian Luau

    luauThe Holiday Inn Westbury hosted an incredible fundraiser. Their attention to detail was impeccable, transforming their courtyard into a tropical paradise.

     

    SAVE THESE DATES:

    • Spring Gala – March 31, 2016, Watermill Inn
    • Golf Outing  – Jube 6, 2016, Indian Hills Country Club
    • Follow us on Facebook or our website to see our upcoming events and activities

    For more information, sponsorships or to register online, visit www.angelashouse.org or call 631-979-2620. Visit and like our Angela’s House Facebook page for all current information

  • November 8th, 2015 by Bob

    West Islip High School students do a talent show for Angela’s House

    Students from West Islip HS raise money for Angela’s House

  • October 31st, 2015 by Bob

    Halloween Extravaganza at Angela’s House 3

    Thanks to the generosity of one of our great supporters, Frank Lombardo, all of the children at Angela’s House III received Halloween costumes this year!  This year’s theme: Princesses and Superheros!

    The children also enjoyed an evening of music from The Music Man and buckets of candy and goodies, which were beautifully put together by Nicole.  

    Many thanks to the amazing generosity shown by Frank & Nicole and to Mark, Dawn Marie, Melissa and Danny thank you for helping us celebrate!

     

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    Candy and goodies for the kids

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    Our very own Captain America!

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    Caroline and her sisters were beautiful princesses

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    The Music Man, himself!

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    The incredible group of volunteers: Mark, Danny, Dawn, Melissa and Frank

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    Trick or Treat!

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    All dressed up and ready for candy!

    All dressed up and ready for candy!

  • October 6th, 2015 by Bob

    Long Island ROCKED for Angela’s House

    Patchogue’s 89 North Music Venue was packed to capacity with  supporters, brought together to ROCK Angela’s House raising over $25,000, a volunteer event committee worked together to lead the efforts to raise support and funds in between sets. Long Island’s own music artists, Panic, 45 RPM, Beyond Fab and Wonderous Stories, ROCKED the house, keeping the attendees in great spirits, dancing, laughing and enjoying the event and one another.

    In addition, Angela’s House children and families took the stage to share their journeys and spoke about how their lives have been impacted by the work the organization does to advocate for and on behalf of their children. 

    All proceeds of this event will go towards providing the children and families of Angela’s House with the services and/or equipment that they need to provide them with the best quality of life possible.

    The incredible crowd!

    3  1901305_1023956687649355_6774233794855809340_n  12079687_1023761851002172_2645904592880372640_n  4
      12087195_1635568853364960_3597745635198067248_o  12074908_1023762004335490_4773127952159259010_n 10380759_1023747711003586_1543322125225559808_n 11227599_10207878168177271_6649977250453954252_n 11226082_1635554696699709_5152564127235417637_o 12087246_1635569800031532_7942167958191014736_o 11226009_1024188340959523_9040255436165920627_n 10527417_1024082847636739_515629981575368916_n 12079891_1635568863364959_5561978263409921698_o 12088364_1023956454316045_8291675823868853855_n 12096231_1023956647649359_329053804336278526_n                                                   Some of our amazing volunteers

  • October 1st, 2015 by Bob

    Angela’s House Fall Golf Outing sponsored by the Serva family

    Angela’s House Fall Golf Outing sponsored by the Serva family

  • September 20th, 2015 by Bob

    INCREDIBLE SHOW OF SUPPORT; HUNDREDS WALK FOR LONG ISLAND’S MEDICALLY FRAGILE CHILDREN

     

    Fbook bannerThe sun shone bright on Sunday, September 13th for supporters of Angela’s House.  Over 500 people lined the registration tables at 9:30am to participate in the 1st Annual 3K Applebee’s for Angela’s House Walk at the Holtsville Ecology Center.

    The participants included many of the Angela’s House children who walked and rolled along with their parents, siblings, family, friends, nurses and other supporters. A local DJ and a live acoustic performance kept the crowd dancing, even after the mile-long walk. Balloon animals made by Ellis, the Funny Man and face painters kept the children entertained and a delicious lunch provided by Applebee’s satiated everyone’s appetites.

    We walked to raise awareness about the limited options that children born and diagnosed as being medically frail, chronically ill or suffering from any type of life threatening condition(s) have as far as services available to help them when and/or if they leave the hospital.  These children have medical conditions that often require intensive nursing care, and other services that, if are available, are very fragmented and difficult to coordinate. The daunting task of home care is extremely overwhelming, especially without an agency available to coordinate the services needed to support such child at home. Until Angela’s House, there were no local specialized homes or facilities available that could care for these children and their unique needs.  The nearest facilities were often out of state, leaving families in a very difficult position – have their child in a setting where they would receive quality care and travel hours to see them, or place them in a non-age appropriate setting and have them close to home.   These voids in the system make a horrifying situation even worse.

    The crowd

     

     

  • September 17th, 2015 by Bob

    Paradise in Westbury: Holiday Inn hosts Hawaiian Luau to benefit Angela’s House

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    The Holiday Inn Westbury was transformed into a tropical oasis on Wednesday, September 16th for a Hawaiian Luau to benefit Angela’s House. Thanks to the support of owners Mr. and Mrs. Barry and Ellen Halperin and the tireless effort of management and staff, the pool and courtyard area were surrounded by custom-made tiki tents, colorful balloons, palm trees and other festive décor.  More than 250 guests were entertained by fire dancers and some even participated in a hula dance contest. 

    Guests also enjoyed delicious traditional Hawaiian fare, including a roasted pig, prepared with original recipes by Holiday Inn Executive Chef Wills.  Attendees relaxed poolside, enjoying music by a local DJ from After Hours Live Music & Entertainment and imbibing a variety of delicious cocktails served by staff from B&G Hospitality Group. The incredible staff at the Holiday Inn Westbury secured coveted raffle prizes such as a one-night stay at Oheka Castle, Southwest Airline tickets, and signed Jets memorabilia.

    The event, which continued into the late hours of the night, exceeded the Holiday Inn Westbury’s goal of $10,000 – bringing in over $16,500 for Angela’s House.  It was amazing how the staff of the Holiday Inn Westbury understood the spiritual impact of our mission; this includes our desire to help parents caring for their medically frail children at home, the philosophy of our homes to offer children the best environment we can give them and provide peace of mind to their parents, and the sincerity in understanding and appreciation of how their hotel is located close to our Angel of Hope Statue – a statue for all parents who have lost a child. They understand the devastation this can cause and how important this statue is to our community. It was a great fundraiser and it was a pleasure to work with their team.