FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
‘HUGS & KISSES FAMILY FUN DAY’ RAISES MORE THAN $200,000 FOR MIAMI CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION
Miami, FL – March 3, 2008 - Miami Children's Hospital Foundation’s Hugs & Kisses Committee recently held a Family Fun Day in the Courtyard of the Village of Merrick Park. The event featured a children’s fashion show with the latest trends from Astoria, Burberry, Benetton, Lacoste, Janie & Jack, Bogner & Piccolini and Juicy. A buffet brunch was also held and attended by more than 350.
The Hugs & Kisses Family Fun Day included a carnival with arcade games, face painters, rock wall, monster slide, computer game trailer, food and much more. The event was hosted by CBS4’s Emmy-Winning Entertainment Reporter Lisa Petrillo.
"The weather was fabulous, the children were adorable, the adults were beautiful and everyone seemed to have a fantastic time," said Lucy Morillo, President of Miami Children’s Hospital Foundation. "Lisa Petrillo is darling, and the winners of our first ‘I Make a Difference’ junior philanthropy awards were amazing and so deserving. This is definitely a program that has great potential and will be an annual acknowledgement of children achieving incredible goals."
The event committee co-chairs were Norma Quintero, DJ Kerr, and Constance Fernandez. MCHF awarded eight philanthropist students from local schools with the "I Make a Difference Award." Recipients included: Lauren Monzon, Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart; Sydney Iandarola, The Cushman School; Elena Zapata, The Fisher Island School; Samantha Reetz, The Gulliver School; Alessia Bachrach, Palmer Trinity School; Jack Davis, St. Thomas Episcopal Parish; John Michael Holtmann, St. Stephen’s Episcopal Day School; and Ethan Bortnich, honorary recipient. The awards were presented by the Hugs & Kisses Junior Committee Chairs, Cristofer Fernandez, Zachary Kerr, I. Nicholas Lopez-Morillo and Alessandra Quintero.
The Family Fun Day was attended by Nancy and JonBatchelor, with daughter Caroline- model and son, Chris, Jon and Mari Secada with their modeling daughter Mikela and son Jon Henry, Lisa Pliner and daughter and model, Starr, Brenda Nestor Castellano and daughter models, Connor and Diana and Lisa Petrillo’s modeling daughter, Skylar McCue.
Many of the stores in the Village of Merrick Park participated by donating items for a silent "in-store" auction, which also raised funds for MCHF.
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Miami Children's Hospital Foundation's (MCHF) is a non-profit 501 (C) (3) organization whose sole mission is to create awareness and generate funds for Miami Children's Hospital (MCH), the only licensed specialty hospital in South Florida exclusively for children. The Foundation's guiding principle is that children’s health care is the primary concern of all and that children are precious like diamonds and thus must have access to state-of-the-art pediatric care. MCH, a 275-bed freestanding facility, is Florida's only pediatric hospital to be included in U.S. News & World Report's 2007 listing of "America's Best Children's Hospitals."