Five-year-old patient Jackson Verner (center right) and playmate 10-year-old Alex Orozco-Rosten (center left) launched a toy drive to benefit children in UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital. Additional cash donations will help UCLA’s Chase Child Life Program to purchase more toys. With Jackson and Alex are child life specialists (from left) Denise Matsuyama-Lai, Anna Pabustan, Katie Kolbeck and Megan Pike; Kelli Carroll (back), director of the Chase Child Life Program; and (from right) Christynna Cyrus, Alisha Sandalow, Christine Banderas and Clarissa Byrd.
Photo: Courtesy of the Verner family.
Jackson Verner has spent most of his young life in and out of the hospital due to a brain tumor, and for his fifth birthday, he wanted the children with whom he shared his days at UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital to feel a measure of the love, care and attention that he received. He partnered with an older playmate, 10-year-old Alex Orozco-Rosten, to organize a toy drive through Alex’s charity organization, Tiana Tuesdays, which Alex created as a monthly tribute in memory of his older sister Tiana. Many stepped up to Jackson and Alex’s call to donate, including Mattel, Inc. The boys collected two truckloads of toys and nearly $1,000 in donations to purchase more toys for UCLA’s Chase Child Life Program.
Noting that nutrition is a key component that can help treat patients with digestive diseases, Nancee Jaffe, a dietitian and integrative health expert in the UCLA Integrative Digestive Health and Wellness Program, shared the latest research in nutrition and the importance of finding a balance between managing symptoms and eating. She also addressed symptom management in the context of health enhancement and personal empowerment, enabling patients to move beyond simply coping to live with balance.
For more information, contact Danielle Dietz at: 310-267-4098
