Chu, in tandem with I.S. 096, donated upwards of 100 toys to patients at the hospital, located at 4802 10th Ave. 

Also in attendance were Ken Gibbs, president and CEO of Maimonides Medical Center; Jeffrey Avner, MD, chair, Department of Pediatrics at Maimonides; and Alexis Ellis, Child Life specialist, whose job primarily consists of comforting children and distracting them during stressful procedures.

“For the kids we take care of, it’s important that the experience they have here also gives them a piece of the holiday — a piece of the ongoing joy that there is to have in life,” Gibbs said. “And as a kid, toys make you happy. We are incredibly grateful that the senator worked with a local school to make this possible — so to her, we say thank you.”

“It’s hard to be in the hospital during the holiday season, and kids love to play — even when they are sick, they love to play,” Ellis noted, adding that “it distracts them from all the poking and prodding that we do to make them better.”

Avner spoke about creating an environment that makes children feel more comfortable in a hospital setting.

“Kids don’t understand what it means to be in the hospital — why you need your blood drawn, and so forth,” he explained. “So we try and fashion a space that makes them feel at ease. And the toys — around the holiday season, create that environment. It makes kids comfortable — makes it more like home while they are undergoing whatever treatments they need here. So it’s an important, comprehensive way to approach children.” 

Maimonides is the only children’s hospital in Brooklyn and the only pediatric trauma center, handling more than 120,000 outpatient visits per year and more than 3,500 pediatric oncology visits.

MCH is also Brooklyn’s largest and busiest Regional Perinatal Center and Level 3 Neonatal ICU, with capabilities to care for the smallest premature babies; and the facility is Brooklyn’s only member of the Children’s Oncology Group. 

In addition, MCH doctors are experts in more than 30 pediatric specialties – from newborn medicine and primary care/wellness to pediatric cardiology, pulmonology, surgery, cancer, and more.