A ‘sweet’ donation: Foundation in memory of Emma Sweet donates wagons to CRH pediatric unit

Bryan O’Neal had no need to even stop and think. He knew immediately how his late 2-year-old niece, Emma Grace Patricia Sweet, would have reacted if she had been there with him Wednesday at Columbus Regional Hospital amid four children’s wagons parked in the building’s lobby.

“She would be pulling them, pushing them, and climbing all over them,” O’Neal said, standing next to the bright red carts donated by the Emma Grace Foundation to the hospital’s pediatric ward.

The foundation, launched by the child’s mom, Linsey Sweet, last year, is meant to help youngsters in a myriad of ways while simultaneously reminding people of Emma’s heart — soft enough that she sometimes wanted to give her toys to others. The child died tragically in an accident Nov. 28 in Columbus.

This marks the nonprofit’s first major gift — one that relatives said is hard to precisely quantify because they didn’t keep track of the cost of the wagons, toys, games and enough crayons to color the world happy. O’Neal came up with the wagon idea after seeing the ones used to transport tykes at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis.

Neither O’Neal nor Sweet knew that the local hospital’s only existing pediatrics wagon was old, broken, and no longer in use.

Emily Linke, a pediatric registered nurse at the hospital, saw the wagons as especially practical and thoughtful.

“It’s definitely nice to have new ones,” Linke said.

COVID-19 guidelines currently restrict younger visitors, but in the past, the ward’s wagon could be used for pint-sized patients or their siblings. Hospital spokesperson Kelsey DeClue mentioned that the new wagons could be used to transport pediatrics patients to the front entrance at discharge time. Several people said that’s significant because wheelchairs frequently are scary for children.

Sweet, who works in centralized scheduling at the hospital, and a few friends wore artsy, new Emma Grace Foundation T-shirts at the event. The shirts featured a delicate butterfly motif — the new foundation logo that the local Hoosier Sporting Goods created a month ago for the entity.

She smiled when she thought of Emma being amid this scene if she could have been.

“She would have eaten up all the attention,” she said.

She’s hoping the foundation can help in other pockets of the community in the future. Toward that goal, the foundation has organized what it is calling Emma’s Birthday Give-Back Ride & Community Day with classic cars, food and more Aug. 27 at the Bartholomew County 4-H Fairgrounds to benefit the nonprofit.

Dr. Rachel Kerschner, the hospital’s chief of staff, was on hand for the donation, and knows the wagons, toys and games certainly can boost peace of mind all around.

“For me, I have watched families with kids in the hospital, and I know that’s a tough thing for them all to go through,” Kerschner said. “It disrupts their normal life, and often, parents are very scared and worried about their kids. So, if there’s anything at all that we can do to help the kids be more relaxed, then it certainly has a nice and positive ripple effect on the parents.”

Emma’s Birthday Give-Back Ride & Community Day

This fundraiser for the Emma Grace Foundation is scheduled from noon to 7 p.m. Aug. 27 at Bartholomew County 4-H Fairgrounds, County Road 200S, and will feature classic cars, food, carnival games and more.

Vehicle registration will be from 10 a.m. to noon the event day, $20 per bike/jeep/car.

Event information: Facebook page for Emma’s Birthday Giveback Ride & Community Day

Information on the Emma Grace Foundation: emma-gracefoundation.square.site