The Bandai Foundation and Starlight Children’s Foundation partnered to sponsor and place a Starlight Fun Center mobile entertainment unit featuring a Nintendo Wii, DVD player and a Sharp AQUOS LCD TV in the general pediatrics unit at Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held to welcome children to the Fun Center.
“The Bandai Foundation is proud to be a longtime supporter of Starlight Children’s Foundation, and we’re delighted to extend our commitment to Starlight’s vital work through our Fun Center sponsorship,” said Mark Schaffner, Bandai Foundation board member and executive vice president of Toys for Bandai America Incorporated. “At Bandai, we aspire to provide children with a creative, inspiring and carefree playtime, a goal we share with Starlight and its Fun Center program.”
Miller Children’s care team members were impressed with the ease with which the Fun Center maneuvers through the hospital. The Fun Center is a welcome distraction for children when other visitors aren’t around because it uniquely counters the isolation and fear often experienced by sick children.
“We are so grateful for the generous support from The Bandai Foundation and Starlight,” says Rita Goshert, a manager at Child Life. “Our patients, families and care team all thank Bandai and Starlight for providing a Fun Center to help them cope during hospitalization.”
