about us press room Nintendo Of America Inc. Dedicates A Starlight Fun Center To Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach
Nintendo Of America Inc. Dedicates A Starlight Fun Center To Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach
“We are so grateful for the generous support from Nintendo of America Inc. and Starlight,” said Rita Goshert, Miller Children’s manager of Child Life. “Our patients, families and care team all thank Nintendo and Starlight for providing a Fun Center to help them cope during hospitalization.” Nintendo’s sponsorship of the Fun Center was part of a series of festivities surrounding the recent launch of its Kirby’s Return to Dream Land" game for the Wii system. Earlier this month, Nintendo inspired kids across North America to discover their inner superheroes with some help from the iconic Kirby" video game character. Kids who visited a website created for Kirby’s Return to Dream Land were invited to create drawings and descriptions of their dream Super Abilities. For added inspiration, kids visited The Stacks website at http://www.scholastic.com/nintendokirby/ and took a “What’s Your Super Ability? quiz. Their imaginative creations were then submitted to Nintendo to be part of a project to aid Starlight, raise awareness about the organization and encourage children to help others. Nintendo displayed several of these submissions during the Fun Center celebration. Patients were also invited to use coloring sheets to create their own Super Abilities, which Nintendo will use to create a mural for the hospital. The afternoon also included an appearance from Kirby. A hit with the hospital’s young patients, Kirby interacted with children, joined them in playing Fun Center games and distributed Kirby themed blankets. Kirby was joined by actress – and Starlight “Fairy Godmother” - Jamie Lee Curtis. "When my son, Tom, was five, he fell off a teeter-totter and ruptured his spleen,” Curtis shared. “Seeing a little child in pain was horrifying. I did my best at the hospital to remain calm, but inside my heart was breaking. Then the nurses rolled in a Starlight Fun Center. As my son began to engage in its interactive, fast-paced video games, he was completely transformed. His anxiety and pain gave way to happiness, playfulness and distraction. What my son and I went through that night is just a taste of what families of children with cancer, heart disease, cystic fibrosis and other life-threatening conditions go through for weeks, months and even years on end. We need Fun Centers in every hospital! " Since 1992, Nintendo and Starlight have placed more than 7,000 Fun Centers in hospitals across North America. The ease with which Fun Centers roll right up to the side of young patients’ beds or anywhere in a hospital setting makes them perfect for hospitalized children in numerous situations: anticipating surgery, during long outpatient clinic treatments, waiting in the emergency room or fighting loneliness after visiting hours have ended. Fun Centers uniquely counter the isolation and fear often experienced by sick children. ”For many years Nintendo has supported the mission of the Fun Centers to bring some joy and relief to hospitalized kids,” said Don James, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Operations. “Playing Nintendo games alone or with family members helps young patients take their minds off their medical situations and instead focus on what kids do best: have fun.” About Miller Children’s Hospital Long BeachMiller Children’s Hospital Long Beach provides specialized pediatric care for children and young adults, with conditions ranging from common to complex - as well as maternity care for expectant mothers - all under one roof. Only five percent of all hospitals are children’s hospitals, making them unique not only to children’s health care needs in the community, but across the region. Miller Children’s is one of only eight free-standing children’s hospitals in California - treating more than 8,000 children each year - and has become a regional pediatric destination for more than 84,000 children, who need specialized care in the outpatient specialty and satellite centers. Miller Children’s is currently undertaking a major expansion project to expand the pediatric cancer center, neonatal intensive care unit and the MemorialCare Center for Women. Visit MillerChildrens.org, like us on Facebook.com/MillerChildrensHospital and follow us at tweets@millerchildrens. About Starlight Children’s FoundationWhen a child or teenager has a serious medical condition, everyone in the family is affected. For nearly 30 years, Starlight Children’s Foundation has been dedicated to helping seriously ill children and their families cope with their pain, fear and isolation through entertainment, education and family activities. Starlight’s programs have been proven to distract children from their pain, help them better understand and manage their illnesses, and connect families facing similar challenges so that no one feels alone. Through a network of chapters and offices, Starlight provides ongoing support to children, parents and siblings in all U.S. states and Canadian provinces with an array of outpatient, hospital-based and Web offerings. Programs are also delivered internationally through affiliates in Australia, Japan and the United Kingdom. To learn more visit www.starlight.org. About NintendoThe worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii" home console, Nintendo 3DS" and Nintendo DS" family of portable systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System", Nintendo has sold more than 3.7 billion video games and more than 600 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi" and Nintendo DSi XL", as well as the Game Boy", Game Boy Advance, Super NES", Nintendo 64" and Nintendo GameCube" systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario", Donkey Kong", Metroid", Zelda" and Pokémon". A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, please visit the company’s website at http://www.nintendo.com. |
LONG BEACH, Calif., Nov. 8, 2011 – Today, smiles were brought to young patients at Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach, thanks to the partnership of Nintendo of America Inc. and Starlight Children’s Foundation". Nintendo sponsored and place
