The newest game console/television station comes equipped with a Wii and a Jamie Lee Curtis to play it with.JAMIE LEE CURTIS AND NINTENDO COMMEMORATE MAJOR MILESTONE WITH STARLIGHT STARBRIGHT CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION -- 5,000TH 'FUN CENTER' DONATED TO THE LITTLEST PATIENTS
*Fun Centers Lift Spirits of Pediatric Patients with the Latest Entertainment Technology
**Cedars-Sinai is the Recipient of Starlight Starbright's 5,000th Fun Center
LOS ANGELES (Oct. 12, 2006) - Nintendo of America, longtime manufacturer of Fun Centers for the Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation, is donating the 5,000th Fun Center to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles at 10 a.m. on Oct. 12 with the help of Jamie Lee Curtis. First designed by Nintendo and Starlight Starbright more than a decade ago to combat the anxiety and weariness faced by hospitalized children, the latest Fun Center model includes a Sharp® AQUOS™ liquid crystal flat-screen monitor, a DVD player and a Nintendo GameCube™ system.
Jamie Lee Curtis has been a proponent of the Fun Center ever since her son was hospitalized at age 5 with a ruptured spleen. "The nurses rolled in a Starlight Starbright Fun Center, and he was completely transformed. His anxiety and pain gave way to happiness, playfulness and distraction," said Jamie Lee. "That night I came away with a conviction: We need Fun Centers in every hospital!"
"It is fitting that Starlight Starbright's 5,000th Fun Center is a gift from Nintendo; we wouldn't have it any other way," said Don James, Executive Vice President, Operations of Nintendo. "I'm also pleased to announce that we will begin shipping new-and-improved Fun Centers to hospitals starting in summer 2007."
The new Fun Centers will feature Wii™, Nintendo's newest home console which is poised to be one of the hottest gifts for the holiday shopping season when it launches in November. Wii lets users control the action on the screen through the motion of the Wii Remote controller itself. It's designed to be playable by kids, adults and even grandparents. It has great games, but also is easy enough that anyone can pick it up and start playing, even if they've never played a video game before.
"While diversion is the Fun Center's primary purpose, these entertainment centers do much more — they improve the quality of a pediatric patient's life," said Paula Van Ness, CEO of Starlight Starbright. "Tens of thousands of Starlight Starbright children and their families join us in thanking Nintendo for its steadfast commitment to making a world of difference."
In addition to manufacturing the units, Nintendo has also sponsored more than 3,500 of the 5,000 placed to date. The company donates some units through an annual corporate gift and others through a matching program. These efforts have yielded a remarkable in-kind donation of more than $3 million to Starlight Starbright. More than 1,000 hospitals throughout North America have received one or more Fun Center units since the program's inception.
"Cedars-Sinai was a lucky recipient of one of the very first Fun Centers back in 1992, so we've seen over and over again how they transform the hospital experience for children," said Charles F. Simmons, Jr., M.D., chairman of the pediatrics department at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. "It is our goal that one day each of our pediatric rooms will be equipped with its very own Fun Center - we value them that much."
James also announced that Nintendo would increase its corporate funding to Starlight Starbright, so that even more patients will be able to benefit from them. The ease with which Fun Centers roll right up to the side of young patients' beds or anywhere in a hospital setting makes them perfect for hospitalized children in numerous situations: anticipating surgery, during long outpatient clinic treatments, waiting in the emergency room or fighting loneliness after visiting hours have ended. It is this versatility that has made Fun Centers an invaluable tool in Starlight Starbright's programmatic efforts to counter the isolation and fear often experienced by sick children. Caregivers report that Fun Center use may even result in a reduced need for pain medication. To learn more about the Fun Center program or to view our current hospital waiting list, visit www.starlight.org/funcenter.
Topic: Nintendo Donates 5000th Fun Center (Read 2110 times)
