The Falciani Kids: 2011

Luke has asked me to share his letter with my internet friends, in the hopes that some of you will be kind and help him. He is asking for donations to benefit the Outpatient Therapy waiting room at DuPont Hospital. If you can help, please let us know -- we are grateful for donations, but also for prayers for the wonderful therapists who have helped all of the children.

(Please email us at falciani at comcast dot net if you're willing to help us out! Thank you!)

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November 20, 2011

Dear Friends,

As part of our graduation activities, the 8^th grade students of Notre Dame Regional School are participating in a service project entitled the “Pay It Forward Project.” The purpose of this project is to teach my classmates and me the meaning of fully participating in the communities of which we are members. Each student is given a small amount of cash and is expected to find a way to use it to benefit others, without just handing it to a single person. We are expected to find a way to take what we are given and make it grow to help as in as great a way as we are able.

I have chosen the Outpatient Therapy unit of the Alfred I. DuPont Hospital for Children as beneficiary for my project. The therapists there have been helping my brothers, my sister, and me for nearly 13 years, and I want to give back to this community. When I asked our therapists what I could give them, they all said what would be most welcomed would be books for the waiting room. AIDHC has been undergoing construction for several years now, and the unit was recently relocated. In the move, most of their waiting room books were either purged or relocated. I want to help them replace their library.

I am asking for donations to help me reach my goal of refilling their book case. I am collecting books of all kinds: infant/toddler board books, “early reader” books, and collections of short stories and chapter books for older children. I am asking if you would be able to give a donation of money or books to help me accomplish this. I would like to give our gift to DuPont by late January. While there is an outdoor playground for families, by mid-winter it will be too cold and there will be too much hospital construction going on for it to be a place they can wait for therapy sessions to finish. New books will be a welcome way to pass the time.

Thank you very much for assisting me. I have included my address below for you to send donations to. The physical, occupational, speech and feeding therapists have done so much for my family that I feel this is the perfect opportunity to show them my gratitude and pay forward their kindness.

Love,

Luke

"How do people keep track of thins that happen on certain days or in certain years? They make a timeline." Celia's homework this week was to create a timeline with pictures of her life.