"A Special Place for Special Children"
Isaiah strums a guitar during a music session at camp at the Home. Photo courtesy of Bill Tiernan, The Virginian-Pilot.
The winter 2009-2010 issue of our newsletter, The Guardian, is available online. Please check it out for news about what’s going on at St. Mary’s Home, from our 5K to camp to our new mermaid, and learn about St. Mary’s 65th anniversary.
More than 400 runners, walkers, volunteers and supporters turned out at Fort Story on Saturday, Oct. 3, for the 21st Annual St. Mary's Home for Disabled Children 5K, plus One-Mile Fun Run. The event raises money to support the programs and services of the Home, which cares for 88 children and young adults with severe disabilities.
During the race awards ceremony, Team Hoyt VB presented the Home with a donation for $10,000, which the team raised during the 2009 Rock ‘n’ Roll ½ Marathon over Labor Day weekend. Team Hoyt runs with people with disabilities. For race results, click here.
A raffle organized by the Auxiliary Board of St. Mary’s Home raised more than $5,000 to provide for the needs of the children of the Home. Thank you to everyone who bought tickets. The winners were:
The new, special edition of "There Goes a Mermaid!" now is available. St. Mary´s Home for Disabled Children has sponsored publication of this colorful children´s book by local author Lisa Suhay. The last page of the book is all about the Home, and Suhay will donate a portion of the proceeds from the book to SMHDC. Learn more about the book here.
Photo by Weyó.
Myra Perdue resisted when a pediatrician first suggested that she consider placing her daughter at St. Mary’s Home for Disabled Children. After all, she’d been taking good care of Amelia at home for more than 11 years.
Six months later, Amelia’s medical needs were growing, and Perdue felt her daughter could benefit from more help. So she and her husband visited the Home. “When I went in the door of St. Mary’s, I truly felt at peace,” she said. “I felt warmth there. Everything was in order.”
“I still feel that way. The staff do their absolute best every single day to make the children at St. Mary’s feel that it is their home. Everything there is done from the heart. That’s why St. Mary’s can’t be replaced. It’s a matter of the heart.”
You can read more about Myra Perdue and Amelia in St. Mary’s 2007-2008 Biennial Report.
Carl M. Albero with some of his prized Yankees memorabilia, including a drawing of Mickey Mantle and Derek Jeter's bat.
Every time Carl M. Albero visits St. Mary's Home for Disabled Children, he leaves touched by the children and the dedicated staff who care for them. "How can you not care about St. Mary's?" said Albero, a member of the Home's Board of Trustees. "It's just an unbelievable story when you go through there. They're good people helping these children who can't help themselves."
Albero, a retired Navy captain and cofounder and former president and CEO of AMSEC, has been a generous supporter of St. Mary's Home for a number of years. He plans to continue supporting the children of SMHDC by remembering the Home in his will.
You can read more about planned giving here. For more information, email Martha Price Stewart, director of development, or call (757) 446-6797 or (800) 237-6555.
If you'd like to give a special gift to a St. Mary's resident, you can find some ideas on a wish list here.
For up-to-the-minute news and photos about happenings at St. Mary's Home, read our new blog here.
St. Mary's Home for Disabled Children Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.