A Temecula boy's effort to give back to the hospital that may have saved his baby sister's life has picked up speed this week.
Claim Jumper restaurants in San Bernardino and Temecula pledged to give a percentage of proceeds from sales to Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital through Friday, Aug. 17. Additionally, 101.3 FM The Mix is hosting a radiothon and live auction Friday to benefit the hospital.
The Flores family, of Temecula, has special connections to LLU Children’s Hospital and Claim Jumper.
Several years ago, while pregnant with their second child, the couple learned through in utero testing, that their baby girl was likely to have a heart defect and also Downs’s syndrome.
Because of this news, the family did their research and decided they needed to be close to LLUCH and Dr. Leonard Bailey, who they realized could surgically treat their baby once she was born.
They relocated to Temecula from Nevada, where Tom Flores could work constructing the Temecula Claim Jumper.
After Bella was born at LLUCH and she ended up staying in the NICU for two and a half months and then, after a month at home with her family, she returned to LLUCH to have her heart valve repaired.
It was a stressful time for the family but they received prayerful support from their nurses and Dr. Bailey every step of the way. Bella is now an active and healthy 9-year old that loves school and is a proud participant in the Special Olympics.
This summer, Bella’s older brother Justin, who has been her ever-present supporter, decided to raise money to donate to LLUCH. He collected recycling from trash cans and solicited recycling from friends and family. He generated enough material to get $57 in cash, a pretty significant amount.
Justin and his mom contacted looking for an opportunity to get their donation delivered to LLUCH.
Justin’s $57 donation turned into something even bigger, Claim Jumper and 101.3 FM The Mix was interested in helping Justin raise even more money for Children’s Hospital. They have now each committed to host both of these fundraisers in Bella and Justin’s honor.
Patrons can visit either the Temecula , or the San Bernardino Claim Jumper, 1905 S. Commercenter Drive East, through Friday and Claim Jumper will donate 15 percent of their bill to Children’s Hospital. (A flier is necessary to donate, which can be downloaded as a PDF from this article.)
The LLU Children’s Hospital is one of the area’s leading providers of specialized care for infants, children and adolescents in a variety of areas including cardiac, cancer, trauma, ENT, NICU, neurology and many more.
—Submitted by Kathryn Stiles, spokesperson for Loma Linda University Medical Center-Murrieta
