Bethlehem, May 22nd, 2017 – Today’s forecast outside may have called for dreary overcast skies and rain, but inside the Banana Factory it was nothing but sunshine and positivity.
This evening was the ribbon cutting for the “Ray of Sunshine Room”, a new space recently acquired by the Pediatric Cancer Foundation of the Lehigh Valley (PCFLV). The room was acquired after the passing of Ray Smicker. Ray was the owner of Silver Images which had previously occupied the space next to the PCFLV inside the Banana Factory.
The Ray of Sunshine Room honors Smicker for generously donating time and work to the Foundation.
“Ray was a special friend to PCFLV, and we are so proud to be able to honor his generosity,” said Michelle Zenie, Executive Director of PCFLV. “We are excited to be able to host many different activities and functions in this room.”
The room features a large mural painted by local artist Ellen Kalinosky. The mural features a large sun with several hidden images and symbols, along with a large dry erase area for children to show off their creativity. Along with the mural PCFLV has created a worksheet to interact with the mural. Look through the photos and see how many items you can find hidden in the mural. (Bee, Elephant, Ladybug, Turtle, Star of Bethlehem, the word “Hope”, the words “Ray of Sunshine” and many more hidden images).
Several special guests were in attendance for today’s ribbon cutting including some courageous local pediatric cancer children and Ray’s son Andrew, who is actively serving in the military, and traveled back to the area for the dedication and ribbon cutting.
The efforts of the Pediatric Cancer Foundation of the Lehigh Valley could be seen firsthand today while watching these young children smile and enjoy drawing on the new space created for them. It was inspiring to watch a child who had spent hours undergoing treatment that very same day smiling and doodling as if nothing was wrong. To find out how you can support PCFLV and the families fighting pediatric cancer please visit http://www.pcflv.org/
About PCFLV
PCFLV is a local non-profit, dedicated to providing services and programs to local pediatric cancer patients and their families, along with bereaved families. Programs include a week-long summer camp; in-patient and out-patient visits; distribution of gas, grocery store and hospital cafeteria gift cards; yoga classes; house-cleaning for new patients; a scholarship program for high school seniors who have battled cancer; art therapy programs; Mom’s Nights Out; and much more. For more information about the many programs and services that PCFLV provides, please go to www.pcflv.org.
