Lurie Children’s Receives Colleen Cares Donation
Sep 1, 2021
Christine Gleason announces our large donation to pediatric heart research from Colleen Cares!
As you all know, Colleen was born in heart failure and ultimately needed two heart transplants. Colleen was a successful recipient twice because of the extraordinary care and life-giving medical expertise she received at the amazing hospital Anne & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital.
On September 1st, we were honored to carry on Colleen’s legacy and altruism by presenting this marvelous hospital that gave her two more chances of life and the best 27 years of my life with a $25,000 donation check.
We will be forever grateful for every single person that had ANY role in her hospital stays, clinic visits, tests, procedures, and surgeries. We are beyond privileged to have been recipients of the knowledge of these exceptional medical specialists.
We are beyond thankful to all who have donated online to Lurie Children’s, and to every one of you that attended Colleen’s Celebration of life, or directly donated to Colleen Cares Organization. Thanks to each and every one of you, we were able to procure a Window of Hope memorial plaque for the window in the room Colleen was in for four months waiting and recovering from her second transplant. Colleen spent many hours seated on the sofa in front of that window of Michigan Avenue. Watching the annual Lights Festival parade was one of her favorite memories.
The plaque is installed on the left side of the window as you look out into the city.
Because of COVID, we were only allowed to have us four at the presentation, and we were only allowed in the lobby. But that did not take away from the bittersweet emotions we felt. Many tears because of the overflow of memories simply walking in that lobby but honored to be doing so. Despite the pandemic protocols, we weren’t alone in the lobby. Two physicians who were instrumental in Colleen’s care, Dr. Philip Thrush and Dr. Katheryn Gambetta, were kind enough to join us. It was wonderful to have the doctors who shared our ups and downs there in person for the check presentation in honor of Colleen.
My wish is to continue growing the Colleen Cares Organization into a huge success and hoping to make several more donations to Lurie Children’s Hospital. Please know, any donations to Lurie Children’s Hospital will go directly to Colleen’s dream to gain as much pediatric research to help save the lives of millions of children with all different types of heart diseases. A recent example of Lurie Children’s cutting-edge care is their record three heart transplants in 48 hours!
Please continue to follow Colleen Cares for future fundraising events. We are brainstorming many fun events! Also, there will be some exciting news coming out in the next few months!
Thank you all for your continued support. We are overwhelmed with gratitude. I will never be able to fully convey my heartfelt thanks to every single one of you that has supported us.
Christine Gleason
