St. Mary's gets dinosaur exhibition tickets

BYJESSICA LYONS
Thanks to a donation by the Greater New York Development Co. (GNYDC) some of the patients at St. Mary's Hospital for Children in Bayside, will be going to see the dinosaurs exhibition at the Sands Point Preserve in Port Washington.
&#8220When my company got the tickets I asked the president if I could donate a portion to the hospital,” said Doris Mellina, a Business Development Officer at the GNYDC, which assists small businesses, and Vice President of the LaGuardia Airport Kiwanis Club.
A total of 75 tickets were given to the Recreational Therapeutic Department, which takes some of the children on various types of trips.
&#8220It's important [to take the kids on trips] because all of the kids are sick but they're still kids,” said Michael Rodgers, the Interim Vice President of the St. Mary's Foundation for Children.
Dolly DeThomas, a former president of the LaGuardia Airport Kiwanis Club who has had a relationship with the hospital for many years, said that all you have to do is look into the children's faces to know that these things are important.
&#8220They just inspire us with their bravery and their fabulous attitudes,” Mellina said of the children. &#8220The aides are so dedicated to those children and it's just a wonderful organization.”
St. Mary's Hospital for Children, which is located at 29-01 216th Street in Bayside, specializes in post-surgical rehabilitation, complications of premature birth, traumatic brain injury and coma recovery, feeding and nutritional disorders, HIV/AIDS, cancer and genetic disorders, among others. The hospital includes a family resource room, chapel, playground and education facilities, among other things.
For more information on St. Mary's Hospital for Children, visit www.stmaryskids.org or call 718-281-8800. St. Mary's Foundation for Children can be reached by calling 718-281-8890.
The Greater New York Development Co. is located at 45 Seaman Avenue in Bethpage. For more information, visit www.gnydc.org or call 866-433-5432.