KidzFest is their personal mission

Kids Stuff
By William Feldman

Welcome to Kids Stuff. Today’s column includes a look at the first annual KidzFest 2007 in memory of Stephen Michael Hurly, being held at the Cooper River Park Stadium in Pennsauken, N.J.
KidzFest is a personal mission for Lisa and Steve Hurly, who experienced The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) exceptional care firsthand when their son, Stephen Michael, was born in 2003.
Stephen was born prematurely, with a congenital heart defect. He lived for only five weeks, during which time the staff at Children’s Hospital were compassionate and skillful, making the Hurlys’ short time with Stephen as wonderful as it could be.
"Although very sick, Stephen was a beautiful baby. The one solace as parents is that we took him to the very best hospital and gave him his greatest chance at life," Lisa said.
Her hope, in some small way, is that this festival and the money raised for CHOP will help enable scientists to find cures to spare other families the sadness the Hurlys feel each day over the loss of their child.
I had a chance to catch up with Lisa regarding the KidzFest 2007 event.
"Let me tell you the history behind it," she said. "Basically, we had a son who passed away from heart disease. I really wanted to do something in his honor and do something fun for kids. I now have four children. I have my son who lives in heaven, and my four who are here."
Her kids range from eight months old to 5 years old. Lisa enjoys games, rides and toys — all the fun things. She likes her kids to have fun, too.
"I wanted to take something that is kind of sad and make it a really fun thing and bring awareness to heart disease and children’s cancer and premature birth issues in a happier, more positive way," she explained. "I figured, who wouldn’t want to come to it and who would not enjoy it? So, that is where it came from."
How did everything come together?
"I am lucky," Lisa noted. "I have a lot of good family and friends. It has been almost overwhelming how kind people have been. When I reach out to people and say what we are trying to accomplish, the response has been very positive."
People help by giving donations, even in the shape of characters like Spiderman and Ninja turtles, she said.
"People have been very kind. They really want to help and pitch in. It has been a really wonderful experience so far," she said.
KidzFest is a new experience for Lisa.
"I do meetings and events for a living, but this is the first fund-raiser that I have sponsored. This is my first puppy," she said.
An example of how people came to her was Daniela Markoska Sapkar, who recently moved to Northeast Philadelphia from New York.
"I own a meeting planning company and one of my clients is one of her good friends. What I did when I decided to do this event, I e-mailed basically everyone I knew," Lisa said. "Basically, I said, ‘I will take anything you can give me, whether or not it be time or experience or whatever you are a professional at.’ So, my client who is my friend put us together."
Daniela has been "just really wonderful," Lisa said. "She has been amazing. She has spent so much of her own personal time and energy to just help put this together."
KidzFest will be divided into several areas, Lisa said, including a Halloween area that will include a maze, Halloween nails, face painting, scary tattoos, pumpkin painting and cookie decorations; and a craft area where there will be beading and sand art. There will also be a lot of blank cards where kids can make cards for kids at CHOP who cannot attend the event.
"There will be a big blow-up bouncing thing there and a sports area there," Lisa said. "We will try to get involvement from the local sports teams. Currently, we have the Philadelphia Soul committed. In this area there will be an obstacle course and a lot of different games. Plus there will be carnival type games there such as a spinning wheel and games where kids can win things like fish and hermit crabs. There will also be the main stage where we have some pretty well known children’s acts performing, along with a magician and a comedian."
Sponsors that have been confirmed thus far include the Philadelphia Soul, PAETEC, Marquis Jet, and Atomica Graphic Design, and Maurice Cheeks, head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, will be on site to interact with the children and sign autographs/take pictures along with the 76ers dancers. They are hoping at least 2,000 people attend the event. The plan is for every cent that is raised to go to CHOP. Within CHOP, the money raised will be split between cancer research, heart research and the neonatal intensive care unit.
Lisa said her experience at CHOP was wonderful.
"To want to raise money for a hospital after your child passes away there speaks volumes about the hospital," she said. "My son spent his time between the CICU (cardiac intensive care unit) and the NICU. I can’t say enough about the nursing staff. They were so compassionate, kind and helpful. You can ask them any question and they never get frustrated with you. The doctors were loving and caring. You would think at a hospital where they see so much pain, they could become cold to it, but they don’t. That is what is kind of amazing about them."
What advice does she have for parents going through a similar process?
"It is a long process and you have to just hang in there," she said. "You hope for the best. In my opinion, you are at the best place and you can comfort yourself with that. You are giving your child every opportunity to have a good life, to survive, be healthier and to live.
"The best thing is you focus on life that that child did have, and you hope you made your child’s life happy and good," she added. "It gets better and hopefully something good can always come from something not good. That is why we are doing KidzFest. We want our child’s life to have more meaning and something good to come out of it."
Lisa concluded our interview by thanking all of the people that have helped out.
"I would like to say to the families at CHOP that I hope it helps in some small way that there are people out there fighting for them," she said. "I know what they are going through is so hard. They know that there are other people out there that care about them, and even though we are not standing there by their side, we are there for them."
Lisa hopes to make KidzFest an annual event.
"My goal is to have it grow into a great big event, make lots of money, create a lot of awareness and make lots of kids happy at least for a day," she said.
For more information, call 1-800-416-6358. This number can be used to purchase tickets for the event or for calling to volunteer your time. Don’t forget, KidzFest 2007, Saturday, Oct. 13, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., at Cooper River Park in Pennsauken, N.J.
SIX FLAGS DYNAMIC DUO
Do not forget to give life. The New Jersey Chapter of the American Red Cross needs 200 donors to kick off the fifth annual Fright Fest Blood Drive this Saturday at Six Flags Great Adventure Employment Center in Jackson, N.J. All donors will receive a free ticket to Fright Fest. Make your reservation by calling 1-732-928-2000, Ext. 2831, or visit www.jerseycoast-redcross.org
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Six Flags will also be involved in another great cause. It will host the first Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure on Sunday, Oct. 14. For more information, see sixflags.com/greatadventure and go to the events tab. ••
Columnist William Feldman can be contacted by e-mail at wmkidscolumn@aol.com