Easter Bunny and Morris County Sheriff's Office bring cheer to hospitalized children
Published on April 16, 2019
The Easter Bunny, with its own brand of healing power and a wagon full of stuffed rabbits, on April 16 made the rounds of Goryeb Children's Hospital with Morris County Sheriff James M. Gannon and Saint Clare's-Denville Hospital with Sheriff's Office Investigator Ashley Craig.
The Easter Bunny and Morris County Sheriff James M. Gannon visit with Hailey Lamca, 14, at the Goryeb Children's Hospital on April 16.
The Easter Bunny, played with an abundance of good humor by Bob Ackerman, a vice president of Novartis and Morris County Sheriff's Crimestoppers commissioner, made most children smile or laugh at Goryeb Children's Hospital at Morristown Medical Center.
But since he wore a fuzzy white and pink suit topped by a large, whiskered, grinning headpiece, some toddlers and young children understandably cringed or cried. Not Micah Kelley or Madeline Rybkin, though. Both undergoing treatment at Goryeb Children's Hospital - part of Atlantic Health System's network of hospitals “ Micah and Madeline happily accepted the stuffed rabbits from the Easter Bunny.
Morris County Sheriff's Office Investigator Ashley Craig, the Easter Bunny, and St. Clare's-Denville Hospital Manager of Volunteer Services Jean Chiappa.
Visiting the hospitals with the Easter Bunny to cheer up children is one of the highlights of this job. We also get to admire the incredible, compassionate work being done by medical staff to make people well again, Sheriff Gannon said.
In his 10th year of posing as the Easter Bunny, Bob Ackerman said the former Cottontail couldn't continue so he stepped in. The full-body rabbit suit, including paws, and the stuffed animals imprinted with the phrase Some bunny loves me, were donated by the Florida-based Easter Bunny Foundation.
The mission of the non-profit Easter Bunny Foundation is to provide a personal visit and a toy from the Easter Bunny during the week of Easter to children in hospitals and pediatric wards across the country. At least 100 Sheriff's Offices and four police departments participate in the visits.
Morris County Sheriff James M. Gannon and the Easter Bunny with Micah Kelley (in red sweatshirt) and John McDonald during a visit April 16 to Goryeb Children's Hospital at Morristown Medical Center.
I've always got time for this. There's nothing better than this, Ackerman said.
At Goryeb, the sheriff, Investigator Craig and the Easter Bunny visited several children who are expected to be discharged this week, including Hailey Lamca, 14, of Bridgewater.
I want to get home to dye Easter eggs, Hailey said.
This made our day! said parent Christina Furgeson of Sparta, after her 14-year-old daughter, Katrina, received a stuffed bunny.
Two-year-old Julian Gagdewsing was aloof in his crib as the Easter Bunny tried to befriend him, but he accepted the stuffed animal left behind.
He's so surprised. He's in shock, Julian's mother said.
The Easter Bunny and Morris County Sheriff's Office Investigator Ashley Craig during a visit April 16 to Goryeb Children's Hospital to bring cheer and gifts to children.
At Saint Clare's-Denville Hospital, Investigator Craig, of the Sheriff's Office's Community Outreach and Planning Section, and the Easter Bunny doled out stuffed animals to relatives visiting patients, nurses, physicians, nursing assistants and housekeeping staff, who all were enthused by the sight “ surreal at first - of an Easter Bunny on the wards.
This is the first time I've seen a rabbit in the hospital, said Sandhya Chilukala, a nursing instructor at William Paterson University who was at Saint Clare's with her nursing students.
Child Life Specialists Kristin Holtzman and Jenna Giudice, Joanna L. Wright, Executive Director of Pediatrics for Atlantic Health System, and Elaine Andrecovich, public relations manager for Morristown Medical Center, escorted the group on its rounds at Goryeb Children's Center.
At Saint Clare's-Denville, Jean Chiappa, Manager of Volunteer Services, escorted the Easter Bunny and Investigator Craig.