Duke Children’s Hospital & Health Center is celebrating “Summer of Miracles” through local business partnerships.
Customers across North Carolina are helping improve pediatric care at Duke Children’s Hospital by shopping at local retailers participating in the fundraising campaign, which runs May through August.
As one of 170 Children’s Miracle Network hospitals, Duke Children’s Hospital regularly participates in peer-to-peer programs and teams up with businesses to raise funds for pediatric care. This summer, the hospital partnered with businesses including Costco, Publix, Walmart, Sam’s Club, Dairy Queen and Ace Hardware to raise donations.
“Summer is CMN Hospital’s busiest fundraising season,” Emily Mitch Ward, director of partnerships and cause marketing at Duke Children’s Hospital, said in an email to the Chronicle.
Duke Children’s Hospital also partnered for the first time with two local ice cream shops, Andia’s Ice Cream and Goodberry’s Frozen Custard, to create unique, limited-edition ice cream flavors. All proceeds from these flavors will be donated to Duke Children’s Hospital, with a portion dedicated to specific programs, such as Child Life, which provides emotional support to patients through opportunities for play, education and self-expression.
“We’re in the business of making people happy, and giving back to the community is an important part of making that impact,” Andia Marketing Director Alyssa Zouris said in an email to The Chronicle. “We’ve been so impressed with Duke Children’s Hospital from the beginning, so it was only natural for us to partner together.”
Andia invited its “Champion Patient Ambassadors,” who serve as the public face of Duke Children’s Hospital’s fundraising efforts, into its kitchen to create a signature flavor to launch in July. The result was Duke Children’s Chocoberry Delight, dark chocolate and strawberry ice cream topped with homemade vanilla cake drizzled in white chocolate.
“Andia loves kids, so it was so much fun for her to work alongside and get to know our inspiring patient champions,” Zouris wrote.
This month, Goodberries will also be selling a specialty ice cream flavor named after Patient Champion Ambassador Harper Harrell, and for every serving of Harper’s Strawberry Delight sold, $1 will be donated to the hospital.
Additionally, every coin tossed into Goodberry’s fountain will be donated through Duke Children’s Fountain of Hope campaign.
“As a North Carolina-based company, we wanted to partner with a local organization that has strong values and mission,” Goodberry CEO Henry Braithwaite wrote. “Duke Children’s Hospital conducts excellent clinical research and provides incredible care to children around the world. We wanted to support their mission of bringing healing to patients and their families.”
As Duke Children’s Hospital celebrates its 40th anniversary as a CMN Hospital member this year, the company plans to continue its corporate philanthropy efforts beyond the summer. Past fundraising efforts have included the MIX 101.5 Hope Radiothon for Duke Children’s Hospital and a private practice with the Duke University men’s basketball team.
After a successful first season, the hospital hopes to expand its partnership with local ice cream retailers.
“Duke Children’s Hospital is very near and dear to our hearts, and any opportunity we have to continue supporting them and their mission would be fantastic,” Braithwaite wrote. “We hope to bring smiles to as many patients and their families as possible through our frozen custard.”
Andia similarly expressed its desire to continue its partnership with Duke Children’s.
“We already have exciting new ideas for future fundraising efforts with Duke Children’s,” Zouris wrote. “We hope to continue this partnership for years to come so we can make an even greater impact in the lives of these incredibly strong families.”
CMN’s dollar-for-dollar fundraising efforts have raised $47,945,174.07 so far for Duke Children’s Hospital, and Ward said this year’s “Summer of Miracles” campaign is on track to raise more than $1 million in total for Duke Children’s Hospital.
“Every dollar raised through these programs supports Duke Children’s Hospital’s mission to provide the best possible patient care, lead the world in cutting-edge pediatric research and educate the pediatric physicians of tomorrow,” Ward wrote.
When shopping at local businesses that partner with the hospital, customers are encouraged to look for yellow and red miracle balloons for donations at businesses in the Triangle, Piedmont Triad, Fayetteville and Wilmington areas.
“We hope our community will continue to support us through the remainder of the summer,” Ward wrote.
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Kate Haver | University News Editor
Kate Haver is a sophomore at Trinity University and the university news editor for Issue 120 of The Chronicle.
