People Who Make a Difference Bringing the holiday to some special children BY MARIANNE KLIGMAN Correspondent Fifteen years ago, Susan Tudor and her husband, Barry, welcomed their second child and only son, Jeremy, into the world. ALEX TOWLE At the Blue Moon Yoga Studio in Shrewsbury on Dec. 16, Chuck Blair of Eatontown and Amanda Ciccia of Middletown pack a bag of gifts for the residents at the Children's Specialized Hospital in Toms River. At birth, the doctors noted that his head was smaller than the average baby's, but it wasn't until months later, when the infant suffered multiple seizures that they became aware of the full extent of his multiple disabilities. Susan says she will never forget the day the doctor pronounced those disabilities. He predicted that her son would probably never walk, talk, reason, be toilet trained or even feed himself Even though Jeremy's prognosis was bleak, the Tudors made a commitment to do everything in their power to care for Jeremy at home. It has been a challenge - emotionally, socially, financially and physically - for this Fair Haven family, which also includes a healthy, vibrant teenage daughter, Brenna. Susan Tudor (l) and Lisa Campanelli (r) delight in baby Esther, 2, at the Children's Specialized Hospital. Susan began practicing yoga to keep her body fit so she could lift Jeremy as he grew, and also to keep her mind focused. Yoga so transformed her life that she became an inspirational yoga teacher. Early each morning, Susan starts her day by holding Jeremy in her lap and doing yoga exercises that double as physical therapy.He smiles and laughs to her touch and delights in the sound of her voice and those of other special people in his life. She ends her day reading to him and playing his special music until he is lulled to sleep. "Jeremy is sweet as butter," Susan often states. Jeremy is so loved by his family and returns it many-fold. It isn't surprising, therefore, how profoundly affected Susan was to encounter "the other Jeremys" as she calls them- the childrenwith multiple disabilities who live at the Children's Specialized Hospitals in Mountainside and Toms River where Jeremy goes for periodic medical check-ups. Some of the children were abandoned, some as preemies, and have little to no parental contact. Others are often visited by their families who just do not have the same resources as the Tudors to care for their children at home. The long-term-care units at the hospitals are staffed by loving, nurturing professionals who tend to the children ranging from infants to 20-year-olds. It became Susan's mission every holiday season to informher friends and yoga students (yogis) about these special children, who call a hospital their home. Every year the donations she collected would grow. For the last two years, the students at Rumson Fair Haven Regional High School (RFH) bought gifts for the children at theMountainside hospital through their health club, which Brenna Tudor, the club president, helped organize. This year the RFHhealth club raised $5,000 for the children at theMountainside Long TermCare Center. But nothing prepared Susan for what transpired this year, when Lisa Campanelli, the owner and director of Shrewsbury Blue Moon Yoga Studio, took on the project. "When Susan told me of this charity and I knew of the other mothers who have multiply disabled children who Susan convinces to come to yoga classes, I thought this would be a way of turning a negative situation into a positive one for so many people," she explained. "It is everything that I work for." With the 40 children hospitalized at Mountainside Children's Hospital covered by the RFH students, BlueMoon concentrated on supplying all the items on the gift lists of children at Toms River Long TermCare Center. There are 24 children at the hospital ranging in age from 6 months to 14 years. Their names label the festive snowflakes suspended from the ceiling of the Blue Moon Yoga Studio entrance. A notice was posted on the Blue Moon Web site detailing the Adopt a Child program. People could adopt the child's entire list for $125 and Blue Moon would purchase everything on that list or they could purchase individual items on the list or give a cash donation. Aspecial yoga "donation class" was held at Blue Moon this fall. Starbucks in The Grove, in Shrewsbury, agreed to match the donations and more than $1,500 was raised. Soon yogis told friends, who told friends, and the entire project mushroomed. Yoga student Kerin Meehan, who also cares for her disabled son at home, brought the project to the attention of her child's school. The teachers at the Vincent S. Mastro Montessori Academy in Little Silver asked their students' parents to make a donation to the Blue Moon project in lieu of their intended teacher gift. Their students also made lifesize gingerbread cookies representing every child in the Adopt a Child program for an open house at which they sought donations. Collectively, the school raised nearly $3,000 for the charity. Additionally, all of the Blue Moon teachers requested that their Christmas bonuses be donated to the cause. On the Sunday before Christmas, the Blue Moon Yoga staff, students and their childrenmet at the yoga studio to assemble the gifts. While the adults wrapped, the children decorated and labeled handmade nametags for each of the special children at the center in Toms River. "Children giving to children, that made the holiday much more special, I don't feel like I need to celebrate Christmas. I already have had it," Lisa Campanelli said. In all, over $10,000 was collected by the Blue Moon network of more than 70 individuals, businesses and schools from the Greater Red Bank area to purchase every item on every child's wish list as well as items for the hospital that cares for them such as DVDs or CD players and physical therapy aids. There was also money left over for a cash donation. On Dec. 21, Lisa, Susan and Kerin brought the gifts to the Toms River Long Term Care Center, meeting the special children and the dedicated staff that cares for them. They observed the bright and colorful rooms bedecked with children's artwork and notes. The center's recreation/therapy supervisor Laurel Leithauser explained that the staff tries to decorate and furnish the center to look and feel like a home. She emphasized, "We are a family here. These children have 35 moms between the nurses and therapists." Leithauser, who has been with the center for 16 years, explained that they also try to engage in activities that families do. This includes taking the older children shopping to pick out their clothes, or taking the preteens and teenagers to concerts. One of their favorite outings is trick-ortreating for Halloween. Every year, the staff dresses the children in costume and then parades with themin the nearby neighborhood. "The community is always so welcoming to us," she adds The hospital emphasizes parental inclusion wherever possible and some parents do attend functions intended for families.Almost half the children at The Center in Toms River, however, have the Department of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) as their guardians. Over the years, Laurel has watched some staff ormedical caregivers actually adopt some of the children. When the children are medically able, the center works closely with DYFS to find them foster homes or permanent adoptive parents. Carolyn Bashant, a recreational and child life specialist, came in to meet the Blue Moon Yoga contingent on her day off. She explained that the staff frequently takes pictures of the children to document their growth. The pictures are placed in the child's own memory book to hopefully give to their adoptive family someday. "This way," she explained, they [the adoptive parents] know that the child's life didn't just start the day they were adopted." The Blue Moon visitors were able to cuddle some of the precious infants and play with the toddlers. The bags of gifts they brought filled an entire conference room table to overflowing. Leithauser was overwhelmed with the generosity. "We would love to go out and shop for every child, but that just isn't always possible," she said. "But on Christmas morning we will gather the children around the tree and open these presents." "The universe never ceases to amaze me or it wouldn't be so beautiful," Campanelli added. "I believe in the concept of pay it forward and that is what happened here with one little yoga studio getting the entire community together. People are really good and want to do something. We just gave them the vehicle." Anyone wishing to learn more about the Specialized Children's Hospital and the long-term care facility can do so by visiting the Web site at www.childrens-specialized. org. The center in Toms River has a constant need for volunteers to read with the children and provide homework help; anyone willing to work directly with the special children can contact Vieno Wurret, coordinator of volunteer services, at (732) 797-3825.