Lunch Box Love

Inspired by her own experience, a local mother organized a donation of comfort for families in St. Elizabeth’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

When Sara Schreckenhofer and her husband found out she was pregnant with their third child, it was a big surprise. “We always had trouble conceiving and our second son was conceived by in vitro,” Sara explained. 

Several months later, they were in for an even greater surprise when she unexpectedly went into preterm labor 16 weeks before her due date. She found out later that the cause was an underlying infection in her blood that put her into septic shock. Her daughter, Ally Grace was born weighing one pound, 10 ounces and was only 12 inches long.

“My husband’s wedding band went all the way up her arm,” said Sara. Ally Grace was born with an opening in her heart and a bleed on her brain, requiring her to spend 116 days in the NICU at the Birmingham, Alabama hospital where she was born. Today, Ally Grace is a healthy teenager, making straight As and running on her high school track team in Northern Kentucky. “She’s a miracle,” said Sara.

“I lived 45 minutes away from the hospital my daughter was in, and I traveled back and forth every day. I know how it feels to live in the hospital for so long,” said Sara. “So, I wanted to give something back to the parents who have babies right now in the NICU. Even though it’s been 15 years, I still remember what they’re going through.”

Sara, who is a full-time teacher at a local school, also works as a consultant with Initial Outfitters, a company that offers merchandise online and through home parties. The company is also heavily involved with a missionary project called Charlie’s Lunch, in which the proceeds from the sale of insulated lunchboxes and backpacks go to feed children in need. “Every lunchbox or backpack that is sold, 100% of the proceeds go toward feeding children,” explained Sara. “One sale of one lunchbox feeds a child for a month.” 

This mission gave Sara an idea of how she might give back to other families with babies in the NICU—by donating insulated lunch boxes for the families to use during their extended hospital stay, and beyond. She contacted a good friend at St. Elizabeth who put her in contact with the St. Elizabeth Foundation and set the wheels in motion. 

“When people are impacted by medical conditions or experiences, they have a sense of gratitude and wanting to give back and help others that may be in that same situation,” said Mary Lynn Brunemann, Assistant Vice President of Development for the St. Elizabeth Foundation. “It’s our job as the Foundation to help them target those emotions and that gift in a way that’s meaningful for them and conversely is meaningful for the organization and our patients.” The Foundation currently oversees about 60 funds that have been established by patients and families. “It’s all about finding a match with that family or patient to help them help others,” said Mary Lynn. “If we’re able to match their giving desire with both the patient’s needs and the organization’s needs, then the community benefits.” 

Even though Sara’s experience took place in Alabama, where she lived at the time, her emotional connection to the NICU and the families who are going through something she experienced, is what inspired her to give back at St. Elizabeth. She started by posting on she and her husband’s Facebook pages to find sponsors for 20 Initial Outfitter’s lunchboxes that could be donated to parents of newborns staying in the NICU at St. Elizabeth. Within an hour she had more than tripled that number and by the time she placed her order, she had 86 sponsored lunchboxes. 

Sara, her husband and their four children filled the lunchboxes with water bottles, hand wipes, tissues, granola bars and other items that the parents might use during their extended hospital stay. On February 22, Sara and her two daughters were able to deliver the lunchboxes to the St. Elizabeth NICU in person. “Walking through that door and scrubbing my hands felt just like yesterday,” Sara said. “I was able to meet a family and present a lunchbox to them and their daughter.” Sara thinks of the lunchbox as a sort of care package especially for new parents as they go through the ups and downs of life in the NICU, “It’s something for them to have after the baby comes home. Something they can always have and to keep for them.”.

Our patients were extremely grateful for not only the insulated lunchboxes, which they can use in many ways while they’re in the NICU, but also for the personal connection through Sara’s story,” said Tracy Burch, Nurse Manager in the St. Elizabeth NICU. “Seeing her now, 15 years later, and seeing how her daughter has thrived, it reminds us that what we do every day matters and truly has an impact on these families. We make a difference every day in the lives of our patients and families. Seeing success stories, such as Sara and her daughter’s, provides hope to our families for the future. 

Sara hopes to share her story with other new moms of NICU babies, as well. “When you’re sitting there for all those days, you just don’t know what will be the outcome and what it’s going to be like,” she explained. “I want to share what I went through and what I felt and help them see the possibility and give them hope.” The family also plans to continue to donate more lunchboxes—hopefully 100 each year—that St. Elizabeth can have available for new parents. “I look back and I think God has a purpose; my purpose is to share my story and give those families a little bit of hope.”