Smiles for Smilow, an organization led by its founder Alexandra (Lexi) Minutillo, a junior in high school, is on their way to donating an additional $10,000 to support preteens and teen patients at Smilow Cancer Hospital. Lexi, a student at Daniel Hand High School in Madison, CT, started Smiles for Smilow in an effort to raise community awareness of childhood cancer throughout the State of Connecticut and to date has over $13,000. The money goes towards providing age appropriate items to every preteen and teen patient at Smilow.
Their two largest fundraisers, Summer of Smiles and Madison Goes Gold, recently concluded and were a huge success. Summer of Smiles involved local business that displayed cards with the smile logo on it and information on how to donate. It also had the effect of filling the town with smiles. The proceeds went towards décor for patient hospital rooms including wall decals and comforters to make patients feel more at home. Madison Goes Gold was a sock fundraiser and partnered with Daniel Hand Football, Field Hockey, and Cheer, as well as Madison Youth Football and Cheer. Over 400 pairs of black socks with a gold ribbon were sold to promote Childhood Cancer Awareness.
“My hope is to be able to bring a similar model to the college I go to,” said Lexi. “Not enough attention is paid to this population, and that is true no matter where you go. Hearing parents tell us how much it means to their kids to get something while they are in the hospital, shows that it is more than just donating, it is bringing joy to kids and their families during a really difficult time.”
Recently Lexi reached out to a local elementary school to start a Smiles for Smilow Jr., where they make crafts, cards and pet rocks for pediatric cancer patients. Smiles for Smilow holds a variety of fundraisers throughout the year, and will be at the Bauer Park Harvest Festival in Madison on October 15th for a bake sale from 11-3PM. To learn more, and to help them reach their goal of donating $10,000, please visit http://www.smilesforsmilow.org/home.html