15th Annual Gift of Life Gala Supports Infants at Fairview Hospital

Mother/daughter duo, Katie Reidy and Debbie Norton, co-chairs of the Annual Gift of Life celebration.

The 15th annual Gift of Life Gala hosted by Community West Foundation was held at Avon Oaks Country Club Fri., Aug. 28. The event is dedicated to ensuring that babies born at Fairview Hospital are safer everyday.

Several hundred guests enjoyed an evening of dining, dancing and silent auctions as they raised funds for the tiniest patients at Fairview Hospital.

“We are joining forces to protect our children due to the current alarming statistics that Cuyahoga County is among the worst counties in the U.S. for fetal and infant mortality,” said Joyce Arand, Director of Women’s and Children’s Services.

Proceeds from the event will be used to provide sleep sacks to the 4,500 infants born at Fairview Hospital annually. These sacks promote the essential and safe ‘back to sleep’ practices that can prevent infant death.

Nurses from the Mother and Baby Services at Fairview Hospital celebrate a successful evening.

Arand reports that safe infant sleep is as easy as A B C: Babies should sleep ‘A’lone, on their ‘B’ack and in a ‘C’rib in a sleep sack with nothing else but a fitted sheet.

This years Gift of Life committee was co-chaired by Mother Daughter duo, Katie Reidy and Debbie Norton. The Norton’s had their now teenage triplet daughters starting life by spending 45 days in Fairview Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. They have dedicated their lives to giving back to the hospital and staff who make miracles happen for hundreds of families each year, ensuring that the Gift of Life will go on for others.

: John Mills Sr. Vice President of Operations at Fairview Hospital with his wife Dr. Deborah Ghazoul-Mills and Dr. Neil Smith, President, Fairview Hospital.