12th-annual Snowflake Festival celebrates children

Bloomington Hospital’s Children’s Therapy Clinic will be hosting its annual Snowflake Festival holiday party for the children and families served by the clinic.

This is the 12th year of the event, which was started by Children’s Therapy Clinic Supervisor Pam Felts. Since 1998, the event has grown from 90 attendees to a 700-guest party, which requires more than 100 volunteers from Bloomington. Many of these volunteers are IU students from service organizations, Felts said.

The Children’s Therapy Clinic is an inpatient and outpatient facility that serves children with all types of special needs, including speech disorders, cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injuries and chromosome problems such as Down syndrome, autism and orthopedic injuries. The clinic serves around 375 families from 14 counties, Felts said.
Planning for this party occurs year-round. Activities and games are considered in terms of each child and his or her ability.

Gifts also receive a lot of attention, Felts said.
“If a six-year-old child went to a holiday party in the community, a girl might get a Barbie and a boy might get a football,” Felts said. “But this child may not have the ability to play with these toys. Members of the staff select a gift for each child so we can make sure that they get a gift that’s meaningful and usable to them.”

Other party details include elaborate decorations centered on themed holiday trees including a farm-animal tree, a pirate tree and a Snow White tree, which will be decorated in honor of a special donor.

The Snowflake Festival is sponsored by the Bloomington Hospital Foundation, which is funded by private donors.

One of the biggest benefactors is the Tichenor Fund, started by Ray and Marcie Tichenor. Marcie Tichenor passed away in early November after a five-year battle with cancer. The Snow White tree will be dedicated in her memory.

“Marcie was very special to us,” Felts said. “She loved to come to the party and see all the children having so much fun.”

The Snowflake Festival is open not only to the children and their families but also to the donors who contribute to the Children’s Therapy Clinic through the hospital foundation.

Felts emphasized that this event was important to all guests, patients, family members and donors.

“The party gives them an opportunity to see the people whose lives they are touching,” Felts said. “It’s really important because there are all kinds of children there. Kids with special needs at a core level are just like any other kid who wants to play and have a good time.”

Amanda Roach, Bloomington Hospital’s media relations coordinator, said she sees the Snowflake Festival as a unique opportunity for the community of the clinic to come together and celebrate what it accomplishes every day.

“It’s just great to be able to see the kids that go to the Children’s Therapy Clinic being able to interact with their siblings and other kids like them doing things that a lot of families take for granted,” Roach said.