VOLUNTEER BRINGS HOLIDAY JOY TO RESIDENTS AT CSH LONG TERM CARE CENTER

“Gran Fran” Brings Holiday Cheer to Residents (and Staff) at CSH Long Term Care Center

Mountainside, NJ – Long-time Children’s Specialized Hospital and Foundation volunteer, Fran Boccella, brought holiday cheer to residents of the CSH Long Term Care Center in Mountainside. Fran works with the care team at CSH to put on the ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas pageant each year so the children can experience the joy of the holiday.

“The reason I do this play every year is because I think of all the children around the world who are in a holiday production in their school or church or synagogue,” said Fran. “I want to give the children who live at Children’s Specialized Hospital that same experience. You can see in their eyes how much joy it brings them, and that means everything to me.”

The holiday pageant is a family affair for the Boccella family. Fran’s husband, Nick, serves on the Children’s Specialized Hospital Board of Trustees and has dressed as Santa to Fran’s Mrs. Claus in years past. Their children are in attendance and her grandchildren have grown up being part of this event, playing instruments and leading the audience sing-a-long. Fran’s granddaughter, Madeline, shared, “I really love coming to the hospital because I love the children,” as she stood proudly beside her grandmother after the pageant.

This year, volunteers from local Starbucks also participated, bringing toys for the children and pastries and coffee for the staff and pageant audience. Lily Stevenson, manager at Starbucks in Hoboken, said that her team and Starbucks teams across New Jersey put out donation boxes at their stores to raise the funds to purchase toys for our long term care residents.

Children’s Specialized Hospital’s Long Term Care Centers in Mountainside and Toms River provide exceptional care for children with complex medical conditions. These two centers are home to many medically fragile children whose medical conditions or family circumstances don’t allow them to be cared for at home or in other community settings. The CSH staff provides dignified and tender loving care for children and adolescents in a warm and welcoming atmosphere that combines specialized therapeutic medical and nursing care with a diverse array of activities designed to maintain each child's abilities, elevate their quality of life, and encourage their maximum potential.