Bright Heart Foundation

C - CARE: Provide the babies with developmental support equipment, and parents with the encouragement tools crucial to keeping their spirits elevated during their months/ years of hospital stays. The children must survive their treatments and then go on to become thriving individuals.

H - Hospital: Support the Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Endowment Fund at Monroe Carrell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in their vital and ongoing research in the fight against CHD. Support the physicians as they provide the expert care for this group of very sick children.


D - Disease Awareness: So many people have never heard of this disease that takes the lives of so many every year. We want to bring awareness and education to people to hopefully move them to donate toward the rearch and patient care as listed above.

So far Bright Heart Foundation has done the following:

November 2018 - Raise Money- we told Luke's story and launched Bright Heart Foundation + Luke's surgeon Dr. Bret Mettler spoke

December 2018 - Give Back- $10,000 back to Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Endowment Fund at Vandy + $2000 ($50 each to all 40 families on 5a & 7a inpatient at the holidays) in honor of Luke's first birthday

February 2019 - Help others Raise Money- Luke was the guest of honor for AHA Knoxville's Heart Gala (assisted them in raising $1.6 million that night)

March 2019 - Raise Money - we honored Jacob Bilodeau and his family (baby also has 1/2 a heart) as they told his story + Dr. Kavanaugh spoke

Feb & Mar - Met with AHA Knoxville, AHA Nashville, Brett Boyer Foundation, Tori Goddard, World of Broken Hearts, etc (networking to learn more about other groups helping the cause)

March 2019 - Give Back- lunch for the PCICU break room for the staff + $500 to August Bunn's family (Augst has been inpatient since he was born...13 months old now)

April 2019 - Give Back-

1) we hope to fill the wishlist of the outpatient in-home therapists that are helping the CHD kids thrive outside of the hospital

2) Got our first shipment from Wubbanub pacifiers for their donation

3) All 8 non-profits are having a "summit" to figure out the pieces of the CHD puzzle and make sure we aren't falling short for support

4) Received word about our grant from Nashville Preds for $5,000....we want to take that can call it "Pekka's Pacis" and have it known that the preds sponsor wubbanub paci to the cardiac babies at Vandy ---- we will be able to supply about 785 to that unit this year!!!

What we all kept realizing is that people don't know what CHD is and that it could affect any baby. So I'm staring with what I know, Rachel....sales. I need to sell the idea of something as simple as providing sick babies with pacifiers to soothe them. Then maybe people go "oh what's the poor baby sick with" ....then we have awareness....which hopefully leads to funding the CHD reseach.

So far Bright Heart Foundation has done the following:

November 2018 - Raise Money- we told Luke's story and launched Bright Heart Foundation + Luke's surgeon Dr. Bret Mettler spoke

December 2018 - Give Back- $10,000 back to Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Endowment Fund at Vandy + $2000 ($50 each to all 40 families on 5a & 7a inpatient at the holidays) in honor of Luke's first birthday

February 2019 - Help others Raise Money- Luke was the guest of honor for AHA Knoxville's Heart Gala (assisted them in raising $1.6 million that night)

March 2019 - Raise Money - we honored Jacob Bilodeau and his family (baby also has 1/2 a heart) as they told his story + Dr. Kavanaugh spoke

Feb & Mar - Met with AHA Knoxville, AHA Nashville, Brett Boyer Foundation, Tori Goddard, World of Broken Hearts, etc (networking to learn more about other groups helping the cause)

March 2019 - Give Back- lunch for the PCICU break room for the staff + $500 to August Bunn's family (Augst has been inpatient since he was born...13 months old now)

April 2019 - Give Back-

1) we hope to fill the wishlist of the outpatient in-home therapists that are helping the CHD kids thrive outside of the hospital

2) Got our first shipment from Wubbanub pacifiers for their donation

3) All 8 non-profits are having a "summit" to figure out the pieces of the CHD puzzle and make sure we aren't falling short for support

4) Received word about our grant from Nashville Preds for $5,000....we want to take that can call it "Pekka's Pacis" and have it known that the preds sponsor wubbanub paci to the cardiac babies at Vandy ---- we will be able to supply about 785 to that unit this year!!!

What we all kept realizing is that people don't know what CHD is and that it could affect any baby. So I'm staring with what I know, Rachel....sales. I need to sell the idea of something as simple as providing sick babies with pacifiers to soothe them. Then maybe people go "oh what's the poor baby sick with" ....then we have awareness....which hopefully leads to funding the CHD reseach.

So far Bright Heart Foundation has done the following:

November 2018 - Raise Money- we told Luke's story and launched Bright Heart Foundation + Luke's surgeon Dr. Bret Mettler spoke

December 2018 - Give Back- $10,000 back to Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Endowment Fund at Vandy + $2000 ($50 each to all 40 families on 5a & 7a inpatient at the holidays) in honor of Luke's first birthday

February 2019 - Help others Raise Money- Luke was the guest of honor for AHA Knoxville's Heart Gala (assisted them in raising $1.6 million that night)

March 2019 - Raise Money - we honored Jacob Bilodeau and his family (baby also has 1/2 a heart) as they told his story + Dr. Kavanaugh spoke

Feb & Mar - Met with AHA Knoxville, AHA Nashville, Brett Boyer Foundation, Tori Goddard, World of Broken Hearts, etc (networking to learn more about other groups helping the cause)

March 2019 - Give Back- lunch for the PCICU break room for the staff + $500 to August Bunn's family (Augst has been inpatient since he was born...13 months old now)

April 2019 - Give Back-

1) we hope to fill the wishlist of the outpatient in-home therapists that are helping the CHD kids thrive outside of the hospital

2) Got our first shipment from Wubbanub pacifiers for their donation

3) All 8 non-profits are having a "summit" to figure out the pieces of the CHD puzzle and make sure we aren't falling short for support

4) Received word about our grant from Nashville Preds for $5,000....we want to take that can call it "Pekka's Pacis" and have it known that the preds sponsor wubbanub paci to the cardiac babies at Vandy ---- we will be able to supply about 785 to that unit this year!!!

What we all kept realizing is that people don't know what CHD is and that it could affect any baby. So I'm staring with what I know, Rachel....sales. I need to sell the idea of something as simple as providing sick babies with pacifiers to soothe them. Then maybe people go "oh what's the poor baby sick with" ....then we have awareness....which hopefully leads to funding the CHD reseach.