Fun Center Lifts Spirits of Patients at Kentucky Children's Hospital

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 10, 2010) –  A new Starlight Fun Center mobile entertainment unit has been placed at Kentucky Children's Hospital as part of an ongoing partnership between Colgate-Palmolive Company and Starlight Children’s Foundation, with the support of Meijer. The Fun Center is located in the waiting room of the radiology department at the University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital.

Fun Centers provide a comforting break for children facing surgery, enduring long outpatient treatments or fighting loneliness after hospital visiting hours have ended. Each Fun Center features a Sharp AQUOS LCD TV, DVD player and Nintendo Wii gaming system to provide hours of fun and distraction.

“When a child is diagnosed with a serious illness, the day-to-day joys of childhood take a back seat to the rigors of treatment and hospitalization,” said Paula Van Ness, CEO of Starlight Children’s Foundation. “Our Fun Centers help ease the isolation and fear children often experience while in the hospital. We’re proud to join Colgate-Palmolive in this new Fun Center to the Kentucky Children's Hospital.”

“The Starlight Fun Center entertains our pediatric patients as they wait for diagnostic imaging procedures to be completed," said Dr. M. Elizabeth Oates, professor and chair, Department of Radiology, UK College of Medicine, and director of integrated medical imaging, UK HealthCare. "It makes the Department of Radiology a less threatening place to visit.”

"I placed our radiology department on Starlight’s Fun Center wait list and we feel fortunate to have received one so quickly," said Jessica L. Cornett, pediatric lead technologist, UK Department of Radiology.

“Colgate is proud to support Starlight Children’s Foundation and their dedication to helping seriously ill children and their families cope with the challenges that accompany prolonged childhood illness,” said Marie Agnes Daumas, collaborative customer events, Colgate-Palmolive. “Starlight’s programs ease the burden on seriously ill children and their families and help them to better deal with, understand and manage their illnesses. With the local support of Meijer, we hope that the Fun Center will help bring smiles to the children at Kentucky Children's Hospital.”

This year, Colgate-Palmolive celebrated its 20th year of partnering with Starlight Children’s Foundation. During the two-decade partnership, Colgate has sponsored more than 1,190 Starlight Fun Centers and donated more than $8 million to Starlight to promote its mission and help improve the lives of seriously ill children and their families.

For more information about the children's hospital, go to Kentucky Children's Hospital.