Published on May 26, 2015

Taylor Rehab Staff and Patients Send Hope to Our Troops

Through Operation Care Packages
Media Contact:
Mary Wascavage
(610) 284-8619
Mary.Wascavage@crozer.org

Pictured are members of the Taylor Hospital Rehabilitation team with a portion of the food and pillowcases donated to Operation Care
Packages.

RIDLEY PARK, PA Taylor Hospitals Rehabilitation nursing and therapy staffs, led by staff nurse Kari Stiles, R.N.,
B.S.N., recently banded together to benefit the nonprofit organization Operation Care Packages.
In mid-March, a call for donations went out and the Rehab team was supplied with pillowcases and fabric markers. Their
mission was to decorate the pillowcases for United States troops stationed overseas. Eric Tosti, a staff recreational therapist,
came up with the idea to involve rehab patients. He, along with Rehab Nurse Director Alisha Hartunian, were able to recruit

patients to participate, including a former Marine, a professional artist and others who had a personal connection to the
military.
Operation Care Packages is an all-volunteer organization dedicated to making sure no deployed hero goes without mail. They
support soldiers, marines, sailors and airmen through care packages with items such as packaged goods, personal care items
and letters of encouragement. One of the things they specifically requested is decorated pillowcases for soldiers beds in the
medical centers, to help them rest not only their heads but their minds. Stiles decided that this would be a great opportunity to
help her rehab patients get better by using their creativity as well as their fine motor skills, and her passion for helping others
in need. As medical professionals dealing with patients in extended recovery, I loved the idea of the pillowcase project to
encourage our patients to apply their rehabilitation in ways they may have never considered, all while thinking of our soldiers
who are in far more compromised situations, says Stiles.
One day when Stiles stopped in to check on the progress of the
pillowcases, she came upon four women sitting in the Taylor
Hospital Rehab Caf chatting and drawing. Each of the patients
had a different story; one an orthopedic surgery patient, one
patient recovering from an extended hospitalization, and two
stroke recovery patients; but all were working toward the same
goal: To get better while sending messages of hope to our troops
overseas. Our hope is that our donations will offer a colorful
reminder to our soldiers and their crews that we support them
100 percent and send our wishes for healing, rest and calm during
their recovery, Stiles says.
Crozer-Keystone offers comprehensive inpatient rehabilitation
One of the pillowcases decorated by a patient
services at the Delaware County Memorial Hospital Regional
of the Taylor Hospital Regional
Rehabilitation Center in Drexel Hill as well as the Taylor
Rehabilitation Center.
Hospital Regional Rehabilitation Center in Ridley Park. The goal
is to help patients who have had a major medical problem regain
the highest level of function possible and return to a less-restrictive lifestyle. These medical conditions include stroke,
multiple trauma, brain injury, spinal cord injury and neurological conditions. The sites also offer general rehabilitation
services for arthritis, cancer, cardiac and pulmonary disease, as well as issues involving functional decline due to prolonged
illness. The pillowcase project can help redevelop fine motor skills for a number of these conditions.
A total of 18 pillowcases were decorated and donated as the result of a combined effort by the patients, staff and staff
members children. These projects are more than just pillowcases; they are a representation of our patients creative
expression and display of our gratitude and support for the troops overseas. The use of art as a modality was very successful
for patients with a rehabilitation goal of improving fine motor skills, says Tosti. In total, the Taylor Rehab team collected 56
pounds of donations, including food, pillowcases and stuffed animals.
Find out more about Crozer-Keystones inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation programs.

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