What's New with Emery's Kisses for Hearts?

I wanted to have a way to keep people updated on the progress we've made through Emery's Kisses for Hearts Foundation. At the end of 2015, Phillip & I started talking about how we can keep Emery's legacy alive. We had a lot of ideas of how we wanted to give back to the CHD and Transplant community. Whether it be via funding amenities at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) for families in a similar situation to ours or funding CHD and transplant research. Emery's life was short but powerful. She reached so many people and touched so many lives. Our lives are richer because of the experiences and relationships we've formed around Emery. We want to leverage the love people have for Emery and for our family to give back for other families to have better outcomes than ours.

I started talking to CHOA in January about an idea for a family kitchen in the Cardiac Step Down Unit. While we were staying there we were frustrated that we didn't have an easy, convenient way to store food in a refrigerator or re-heat food that wasn't in microwave safe containers. One of the nurses told me the 4th floor/AFLAC Cancer center had a family kitchen with a stove. I thought that was great, there are already facilities in the hospital like what we were thinking of, now we just had to get approval and fund it.

The good news is we have obtained approval, CHOA is going to repurpose a Teen Room into a family kitchen. I am thrilled that we were able to convince them of the need. Now I am waiting to hear what the cost will be and how much they may need in contributions to make it happen. Here is a photo of a portion of the family kitchen in the AFLAC unit.

The money we have collected from the Bake Sale at my office and through Emery's memorial fund will go towards making this kitchen a reality. I know we will need to raise more money to contribute therefore we set up a named fund at CHOA in Emery's honor to continue to raise money for this gift. It is called Emery Funkhouser's Kisses for Heart memorial fund and you can make a donation from our donation tab.

I would also like to raise money by selling T-Shirts, if you are interested in a shirt let me know. I haven't ordered them yet but I will put something together if there is enough interest.

This is a cute design that I am considering: