Six-Year-Old Says “Thanks” With Donation of Coloring Books to Stony Brook Children’s
ake June spends $275 from homemade iced tea and cookie sales to “pay it forward”
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| Sean Flynn, 10, left, of Rocky Point, is all smiles after receiving a coloring book from Jake June, age six, of Bayport. After he was treated at the Pediatric Emergency Department in December, Jake raised $275 from sales of homemade cookies and iced tea to purchase 1,800 coloring books to benefit other children who are treated at the Pediatric Emergency Department at Stony Brook Long Island Children’s Hospital. |
STONY BROOK, N.Y., April 2, 2013 – Six-year-old Jake June knew what he wanted to do after he was well cared for by the doctors and staff in the Pediatric Emergency Department at Stony Brook Long Island Children’s Hospital last December. “Because they took care of me, it’s time for me to pay them back,” said Jake, the son of Scott and Karen June of Bayport, NY.
And that’s exactly what he did. After his treatment and recovery from the stomach flu, Jake, a first-grade student at Academy Street Elementary School, decided to hold a fundraiser to benefit Stony Brook Children’s. He and his family brewed iced tea and baked cookies, which they sold at his father’s business, All Pro Sports Academy in Bellport, NY, on March 2. Asking for donations only, Jake raised $275, which his parents used to purchase 1,800 coloring books to give to other children who are treated in the Pediatric Emergency Department.
“We’re just so proud of him,” said his father, Scott, during Jake’s visit to Stony Brook Children’s on April 1 to deliver the coloring books. “It came out of nowhere on his own. He just wanted to repay the favor that was done for him.”
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| Jake June flexes his muscles during his April 1 visit to Stony Brook Children’s. After he was treated in the Pediatric Emergency Department at Stony Brook Long Island Children’s Hospital in December, the six-year-old Bayport resident flexed his fundraising muscles by raising $275 from sales of homemade cookies and iced tea to purchase 1,800 coloring books to benefit other children who are treated at the Pediatric Emergency Department in the future. Shown with Jake, left to right, are Sergey Kunkov, MD, Chief of the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine at Stony Brook Children’s; JoAnn Williams, RN, and Mary Feiler, RN. |
Walter Hinds of Lake Ronkonkoma, NY, the father of three-year-old patient Tyler Hinds, who received a coloring book from Jake, was certainly impressed when he learned what Jake had done. “I think it’s fantastic for a six-year-old to do something like this,” he said. “I think his future is bright.”
Ten-year-old Sean Flynn, another patient in the Pediatric Emergency Department, was also impressed and inspired. “I think it’s very cool,” said the son of Bernard and Kathleen Flynn of Rocky Point, who is a fifth grader at Joseph A. Edgar Elementary School. “I think it’s remarkable a six-year-old boy has a dream to help people. It’s very generous to raise money and then use it all to help other people.”
“I don’t know where he got the idea from,” said Jake’s mother, Karen, beaming with pride. “He just knows to give back…. He has the best heart.”
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About Stony Brook Long Island Children’s Hospital:
Established in June 2010, Stony Brook Long Island Children’s Hospital is Suffolk County’s only children’s hospital. More than 7,000 children and adolescents are admitted each year. Stony Brook Children’s operates 100 pediatric beds and has more than 140 full-time pediatric physicians and surgeons in 30 different specialties and over 200 voluntary pediatric faculty members. The hospital is the Level 4 Regional Perinatal Center for our area and has a Level 3 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. It is home to the nation’s first Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis Center and also offers a Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Program, Pediatric Cardiology Program, Pediatric HIV and AIDS Center, Cystic Fibrosis Center and the Cody Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities. To learn more, visit www.stonybrookchildrens.org.
© Stony Brook University 2012
