In Celebration
Hugworks' 25th year of service as a 501(c)(3)
nonprofit organization is complete and, during this
Holy Holiday Season, we are giving thanks and...
Celebrating the Past
We have sung with and for thousands and thousands
of hospitalized children and families over these years.
Our recorded resources have garnered 9 national and
international awards, including 3 Parents' Choice
Awards, and we have distributed over 125,500
CDs, tapes and song books. These resources
continue to be used on a daily basis by parents and
health care & educational professionals to extend the
positive impact of our healing songs with children we
will never personally meet.
Planning for the
Future
In 2007, Hugworks will be continuing our primary
programs and projects, as well as beginning some
new ones:
- We will increase the music therapy services
provided by Elizabeth "Bizzy" Tober (our Board
Certified Music Therapist Consultant) from 40 to 60
hours per month.
- We will continue providing gratis office space in
our Hugworks building for ARK (Adults Relating to
Kids), a school-based self-esteem program founded
by the Children's Center for Self-Esteem - Houston,
TX.
- We will inaugurate a new fund raising/public
relations event called Dash 'n Splash - a 5K
Run/1K Kids' Fun Run at the Keller ISD Natatorium -
March 31, 2007.
- We are reinstating our 24-hospital Texas tour
(January - March) while continuing our regular
programs in the 5 Dallas-Fort Worth hospitals we
serve.
- We are renovating our Hugworks building Board
room to make it a multi-purpose music
therapy/studio/meeting room.
- We will distribute 1,000 of our new Best I Can
Be Classroom Connections, an audio/print
resource we've developed for Kindergarten and 1st
Grade children and their teachers.
- We will produce the 4th audio recording (approx.
14 new songs) in our Hugworks Series for children
and families.
- We will distribute 2,000 Hugworks CDs in gift bags
for children and families staying at the Ronald
McDonald Houses in Dallas and Fort Worth, along
with
500 portable CD players.
- Courtesy of excellent Foundation/Donor support,
we will be able to donate more of our children's
hospital touring services than ever before.
As you can see, our 26th year of service promises to
be our best year ever!
Building a Legacy
Our Board and Staff are building a solid foundation so
that future generations of children and families
dealing with severe, chronic, and life-threatening
illnesses will have "Hugworks-quality" services and
resources:
- We are beginning systematic research
r.e. "therapeutic entertainment" with the help of
Consultant/Advisory Board member, Chris Brown
(Director of Child Life at Children's Hospital of
Philadelphia). Over the next several years we
anticipate the outcome will be a national conference
sponsored by Hugworks and/or one or more new
publications.
- We are exploring an Internship/Scholarship
arrangement with Southern Methodist University's
Music Therapy Department. Our hope is to better
support extended training of Music Therapy students
and their placement in Dallas-Fort Worth children's
hospitals. The long-term plan will also include hiring
some of these students as consultants and/or staff
for Hugworks, serving children both in our Hurst, TX
facility and in area hospitals, rehab units, schools,
etc. Top staff members will inherit the leadership
roles at Hugworks for future generations.
- We are continuing development work for a new
children's television series based on our Hugworks
songs, with the help of Noel Paul Stookey and
Steven Feldman (Emmy Award winning producer.)
No one builds this kind of organization, nor this kind
of legacy, alone. I am so grateful to Paul G. Hill and
other Staff members who have served over the
years, and to Board and Advisory Board members
who have helped in so many ways. Special thanks to
our Child Life Specialists and Music Therapist friends,
along with other health care/education professionals
who have given us guidance. Of course, we could
not have done all we have done without hundreds
and
hundreds of individuals/families, Sunday School
groups & Churches, civic organizations, foundations,
and corporations which have provided necessary
financial support for our mission (see listing of 2006
funders below).
I have never been more excited about the future of
Hugworks than I am as we look toward the New
Year. As Paul Hill's wonderful song says,
"Together, there's no telling what we can do!"
Thank you for all you have done, and continue to do,
to help us help the children.
In Celebration,
Jim Newton
President & Founder
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