Hasbro Kids Shop at Miracle Wraps Mall
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Wednesday, December 22, 2010
GoLocalProv Lifestyle Editor Andrea E. McHugh
When Bethanie Malone was just 16 and fighting leukemia at
Hasbro Children’s Hospital, she wasn’t preoccupied with what was on her Christmas list. Instead, it was others who she was most concerned about. “She knew she was going to pass, and she couldn’t go out to the mall. She had this little guy she couldn’t shop for, and her sisters, and she really didn’t like the fact she had to be like ‘Mom, can you get that?’ So she devised all this,” says Annette Astphan, Bethanie’s mom, pointing to a spacious room filled to the brim with gifts for moms, dads, grandparents, teens, toddlers, even pets. Celebrating its 7th year, the Miracle Wraps Mall, enjoyed yesterday on the fifth floor at Hasbro, allows patients the opportunity to shop for loved ones (and themselves, if they wish) for the holidays.
From Dream to Reality
Kristin Murray, a
child life specialist at Hasbro for 15 years, fondly remembers the evolution of Bethanie’s brainchild. “[She] started mulling over this idea from her room and it took a long time to create. Basically she wanted to be shopping for her friends and family and she couldn’t…sometimes she was very sleepy and couldn’t really focus, but whenever she’d have these moments by herself, she was drawing all these diagrams,” says Murray. From creating a currency system with dollars depicting Santa, elves, reindeer and snowman (designed by Bethanie and the hospital’s artist) to the idea of a gift wrapping station to working with staff to create traveling gifts carts to go room to room of patients who are unable to leave their beds, Bethanie covered all the bases. She even called it the Miracle Wraps Mall, an intentionally non-denominational name to make it an all-encompassing experience for all. “It doesn’t matter what you celebrate, it’s about gifting,” explains Astphan. Adds Murray, “She really thought about it, and it was a full year to get it to fruition.” A year after she put the wheels in motion, Bethanie cut the ribbon to open the inaugural Miracle Wraps Mall from her stretcher with her parents by her side and her young son, Bryan, on her lap.
Something For Everyone
The Miracle Wraps Mall yesterday took place from 10am-12pm and the gift cart started making rounds at the same time, available through 4pm. Murray says that various organizations and even the child life department donated dollars or gifts, and the day unfolds seamlessly with the help of the whole department, Bethanie’s family and volunteers. Patients can drop off their gifts to be wrapped and delivered to their room or they can sit back and enjoy refreshments and live music. Macy’s has donated their signature holiday shopping bags each year to add to the authentic experience.
Nicholas, 3, was playing enthusiastically with his new truck, replete with blinking lights and real locomotive sounds. His mom said he had a blast shopping, even picking out a monkey doll for his sister, and couldn’t help but unwrap the Play Doh packaged in sparkling wrapping paper and silver bow. Next door, Matt, 13, says shopping for others was the best part of the day, picking up just a warm pair of socks for himself.
Coming Full Circle
Annette Astphan, who continues to be a vital part of the Mall each year, explains that the event touches so many lives, but perhaps, it seems, no one more so than herself. “I was at the second Mall and a little girl came in...I had to run because she reminded me so much of my daughter, and I went to the bathroom for about 20 minutes to try and compose myself,” she tells. “I go out of the bathroom to get back in here and I get a little tug, and its the little girl…I said ‘Honey?’ And she said, ‘I know who you are.’ I said, ‘Excuse me?’ And she said, ‘I know who you are.’ And I said, ‘Who am I?’ And she said, ‘You’re Bethanie’s mom.’ And I told her, ‘I am.’ Then she said, ‘I just had to find you and thank you because they don’t know that I know… that this is my last Christmas. Do you think my mom will like this?’ It was amazing.” The mother of the little girl, Astphan recalls, made a point to say thank you the year after, because now every year she goes on to remember her daughter’s gift.
Hasbro Children's Hospital hosts a number of events throughout the year to support and strengthen its programs. For more on giving to Hasbro, visit www.lifespan.org/hch/donors
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