Notre Dame choir members help bring Christmas joy to pediatric patients in Royal Oak.
Notre Dame Choir Director Dave Fazzini led members of the student and alumni choirs in singing Christmas carols and shining ”Moonbeams for Sweet Dreams” for pediatric patients at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak. More photos below.
The program runs every evening at 8 p.m. during the month of December and features pediatric patients shining flashlights from their hospital windows. They then look for community members standing outside the hospital's East Tower of the Children's Hospital to shine them back.
“Many children are unable to leave their rooms and can feel isolated in the hospital as the rest of the world continues without them,” Beaumont Children’s Child Life Supervisor Kathleen Grobbel said. “With the help of the community, we can make sure they go to bed with smiles on their faces.”
According to Notre Dame choir director Dave Fazzini, who helped organize the school's participation in last night's event, it's a very worthwhile way for students to give back to their community.
"With so many of those young patients in the hospital during the Christmas season, we think that if we can bring just a few minutes of joy to them, we are very glad to do it," he said. "Our kids were great last night and I am so proud of them."
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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org