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Holy childhood in Mascoutah celebrates 150 years of faith

Story and photos by LIZ QUIRIN
Messenger editor

When a family goes to the hospital unexpectedly with a youngster, sometimes the parents forget to take along everything they need to stay with their child.

That happened to Dawn and Jeff Mueller of New Athens when their son, Matthew, was diagnosed with a respiratory virus and was flown from St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Belleville to Cardinal Glennon Hospital in St. Louis.

Dawn followed and spent the next two weeks at the hospital — the first 24 hours without a change of clothes because she needed to be close to Matthew.

When you’re meeting with doctors, and you’re worried about your child, you can’t think about a change of clothes, a toothbrush or any of the simple articles of hygiene we take for granted, Dawn said.
“A care package” with those items would have been so helpful and so appreciated.

After a number of trips to the hospital at different times with her children, Dawn said she always keeps a suitcase packed and ready with the essentials, but she knows other families responding to their own emergencies haven’t made those kinds of preparations.

The parents “are unprepared and in distress,” Susan Gass, Dawn’s friend, said.

To help other parents, Dawn and Susan began assembling care packages for parents and distributing them to the two pediatric hospitals in St. Louis — Cardinal Glennon and St. Louis Children’s hospitals.

The care packages began as a family service project, Dawn said, with other family members contributing items for the bags and her children helping to assemble them.

It quickly grew into a much larger project when her small faith community at St. Joseph Parish in Freeburg became involved in collecting and packaging the products.

Dawn spoke with Rose Buchmiller, coordinator of the small Christian community at St. Joseph’s who wanted to initiate a service project in the parish.

She then spoke with Karen Reiker, project coordinator for St. Louis Children’s Hospital Foundation who said the hospital could use 100 parent care packages per month.
Karen said she gives the packages to the pediatric intensive care unit at the hospital for the parents of children admitted to the unit.

“You have no idea how appreciative parents are” when they receive these gifts, Karen said.

But Dawn does know the real value of the care packages and what they mean to the parents. Dawn began assembling the packages with her own children, all of whom are adopted and have special needs.
They know, she said, that assembling the packages is making a difference in another family’s life. She hopes to continue putting together the packages and eventually expand the service project to a non-profit organization to continue the work.

“Some day I would like to hire people with special needs,” Dawn said. “Then they’ll know they’re making a difference.”
Dawn established a web site in October so that others can read her story and see how they can make a difference either through knowledge or by donating items or money for care packages.

To find out more about the care packages, please go to http://hishandshfi.terapad.com.