Published: July 23, 2024
LANSING, Mich. – A big shout-out to TechSmith Corp. of East Lansing for recently dropping off 50 handmade blankets to University of Michigan Health-Sparrow’s Regional Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (RNICU).
The blankets block out light and sound, creating a more developmentally friendly environment for babies who are premature.
The idea came from TechSmith’s Jan Casey, who noted the comfort her own son received when he was given a fleece blanket when hospitalized at UM Health-Sparrow Lansing in 2016.
“We were shown a lot of kindness from strangers during my son’s illness, so this project is a way for me and my co-workers to pass that along to others,” Casey said.
TechSmith is the market leader in screen capture and recording software empowering anyone to create remarkable videos and images that share knowledge for better training, tutorials and everyday communication.
TechSmith gives its employees an innovative benefit of paid time off for volunteer work. Casey and her daughter had already been making blankets for MSU/UM Health-Sparrow pediatric hematology and oncology patients, so they rounded up other employees and worked through the Sparrow Foundation to duplicate the effort for the RNICU.
(From left) TechSmith’s Jan Casey and Matthew Barosko, along with UM Health-Sparrow Lansing RNICU Department Manager Mandi D’Alessandro, display blankets donated by TechSmith employees.
An estimated 420 blankets have been donated since TechSmith’s first donation in 2017. Casey says interest is high among TechSmith employees, who continue to ask her about helping with the blankets.
To learn more, visit UofMHealthSparrow.org/Foundation. And to learn more about Mid-Michigan’s only RNICU, visit UofMHealthSparrow.org.
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University of Michigan Health-Sparrow is Mid-Michigan’s premier health care organization and includes hospitals in Lansing, Carson City, Charlotte, Ionia and St. Johns, as well as UM Health-Sparrow Specialty Hospital, Care Network, the Michigan Athletic Club, and AL!VE. UM Health-Sparrow is part of University of Michigan Health. Through the dedication of our 10,000 team members, UM Health-Sparrow pursues a vision to be nationally recognized as a leader in quality and patient experience. For more information, visit UofMHealthSparrow.org.