16 | DECEMBER 12 • 2019
Jews in the D
Shine Some Light
Beaumont’
s Moonbeams program uplifts the spirits
of kids in the hospital.
ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
H
aving a seriously sick child
is a devastating, heart-
wrenching experience. As
Rachael Grushko of West Bloomfield
said, “It was the worst day of my life.
”
In late December 2017, Grushko’
s
daughter Bella, then 19 months old,
was rushed to the emergency room at
Beaumont Hospital Royal Oak with
an infection-induced fever of 106
that was shutting down her kidneys.
They spent the next two days in the
emergency room before being moved
to a room in the pediatrics unit.
“I was a complete wreck, a total
disaster,” Grushko recalled. That
night, she glanced out the window
and saw many lights shining in the
darkness. She didn’
t know what was
happening, but it looked beautiful, so
she picked up Bella, ignoring all the
wires attached to her small body, and
held her up to see.
Bella smiled for a few moments
before falling back to sleep, but
Rachael kept watching. “It calmed me
down for a moment. It made me feel
like I wasn’
t alone,
” she said.
It wasn’
t until the next day
that Grushko discovered what it
was: Beaumont’
s Moonbeams for
Sweet Dreams program. During
Moonbeams, the community rallies
in the courtyard outside the pediatric
unit every night at 8 p.m. during
the month of December and waves
flashlights at the patients to show
they’
re not forgotten by the outside
world.
This year, Moonbeams runs from
now through Dec. 25. Lights shine at
8 p.m.
According to Beaumont
Children’
s Child Life Supervisor
Kathleen Grobbel, the program was
created by their Pediatric Family
Advisory Council after a parent said
she’
d been in the hospital with a child
over the holidays and felt like the
world was going on without her. “We
thought, let’
s invite the community
to say good night by shining lights,
”
Grobbel said. “We figured we’
d have a
small group; we weren’
t sure it would
take off.
”
Instead, word spread. People loved
being able to do something tangible
for sick kids and their families, to
bring a little light to their bleak
situations.
During 2018, more than 30,000
TOP TO BOTTOM: Volunteers brightened the
evening for pediatric patients at Beaumont
Royal Oak last year. When Bella, now 4, was
in the hospital at 19 months, her mother
Rachael held her up to see the lights. Alexa
and Ari Schafer.