Bradford School Wins “Champions for Children” Award from St. Joseph’s Medical Center

Bradford School students, staff and parents have been honored as ‘Champions for Children’ for their generous donations of toys and blankets to the young patients at St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital in Paterson. The award, bestowed by the hospital’s foundation, was accepted recently by Bradford Principal Naomi Kirkman before a crowd of students and parents.

“It’s a tribute to the work and compassion of the students at Bradford,” Kirkman said.

Bradford for the past seven years has collected toys donated by students’ families for the children’s hospital. This year, despite the tough economy, families contributed a record amount of toys, so many that for the first time Bradford parent Jill Menell could not fit them all in her minivan. She and her husband had to put the overload in another car.

Menell, a pediatric oncologist at St. Joseph’s, launched the toy drive when her oldest child started at Bradford. She said many of the toys go to children with cancer or blood disorders. Hospital staff give the toys to children on birthdays, at holiday time or to cheer up a child having a rough day, Menell said. Some of the donated toys are also given to children brought to the emergency room or inpatient floors, she said.

Bradford has also for two years donated fleece blankets to the children’s hospital. On the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday this year and in 2009, students decorated the blankets with fringe. Menell said the blankets help to keep pediatric patients warm, especially during the summer. “The air conditioning is always freezing,” she said.

The St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center Foundation gives the ‘Champions for Children’ awards to recognize those whose contributions make a difference to the children’s hospital, said Timothy Barr, a Bradford parent who is also executive director of the foundation and vice president for development of the St. Joseph’s Healthcare System.

Barr presented the award to Kirkman at the school’s Bingo night for students and families on Friday, January 22.

“I’m glad we can help the children at St. Joseph’s, Kirkman said. “But I think it also does a lot for the children at Bradford.”