frontlines
Playful Mitzvah
Riley Stearn collects hundreds of toys
for Children's Hospital of Michigan.
Marlene Temkin
Special to the Jewish News
W
hen she was 6 years old,
Riley Steam of Farmington
Hills learned firsthand
what DMC Children's Hospital of
Michigan does for its young patients.
A benign brain tumor caused Riley to
be in the hospital for a month — she
has fully recovered — so the 12-year-
old has a special connection to the
hospital.
As Riley explained, "When I was
in the hospital, I really liked it when
people gave me toys because I usually
didn't have any toys to play with and it
got really boring. So, I played with a lot
of toys, and they meant a lot to me so I
thought it would be a perfect bat mitz-
vah project for me:'
The toys Riley collected were given
to Children's Hospital's annual Snowpile
toy drive. This program, which was
started by a Children's Hospital of
Michigan Child Life team member, col-
lects toys, books and games during the
holiday season so children and teens in
the hospital can get gifts without plac-
ing more stress upon their families to
go gift shopping for them. All of the
donated gifts are wrapped, allowing
families to personally surprise their
children with the holiday presents.
Riley, who celebrated her bat mitzvah
at The Shul in West Bloomfield over the
Thanksgiving/Chanukah weekend, had
her bat mitzvah at age 12 instead of 13
(which is a choice for girls) because she
has a twin brother, Jonah — and her
parents, Lisa and Shawn, wanted each
of them to have their own special cel-
ebration a year apart. On her invitation,
she asked her guests to bring toys to
the service — and Riley said that some
attendees brought more than one.
In addition to requesting donations
from her bat mitzvah guests, Riley also
went door-to-door in her neighbor-
hood with the assistance of Jonah for
about five hours. She said, "Children's
Hospital means a lot to him, too,
because it saved my life. He was really
helpful going to our neighbors because
he has the cute face and smile. Nobody
said no to us when we asked for toys:'
Riley estimated that she has collected
more than 300 toys for the Snowpile
program.
Her mother, Lisa, said, "The first day
we were in the hospital, Riley had to get
an IV. Hadassah had donated a soft doll
JN CONTENTS
Riley poses with some of the toys she
collected for her bat mitzvah project.
that the people in the hospital used to
show her how the IV would work, and
they let her do the process on the doll,
too. It was all about making the kids
more comfortable and keeping them
educated and entertained, which really
made a big difference:'
On Friday, Dec. 13, Riley and her
family brought the donated toys to
Children's Hospital so the kids could
receive them in time for the holidays.
Riley, who's in seventh grade at O.E.
Dunckel Middle School in Farmington
Hills, explained, "My favorite part is
just knowing that the kids are going to
be happy. And, because I know what it
feels like because I had the same expe-
rience, I can imagine their faces:'
❑
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