MedImmune donates colorful mailboxes to ill children Residing at The Children’s Inn at NIH

MedImmune donates colorful mailboxes to ill children Residing at The Children’s Inn at NIH

BETHESDA, Md. (April 11, 2017) – MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, located in Gaithersburg, Maryland, recently donated a set of custom-designed mailboxes to The Children’s Inn at NIH. The mailboxes are a gift for children with rare and critical illnesses who find “A Place Like Home” at The Inn while undergoing revolutionary medical treatment as part of clinical trials at the National Institutes of Health.

Each of the 59 wooden mailboxes, which are about the size of a shoebox, have a colorful, translucent door with the child and family’s room number on it and can be opened easily by a child, without the need for a key.

“The mailboxes at The Inn have special significance for our children,” said Jennie Lucca, CEO of The Children’s Inn at NIH. “They’re not mailboxes for actual mail but to present a ‘thoughtful treasure’ – a small gift or craft created or bought by caring supporters – to each child and his or her sibling every morning to help them have a good start to their day and put a smile on their faces. It’s one of our children’s favorite things about staying at The Inn, and we’re extremely grateful for the support MedImmune has lent our children and families over the past decade and the gift of these beautiful mailboxes that our children already love so much.”

Families come to The Children’s Inn, a private nonprofit located across from the Clinical Center on the NIH Campus, when their children have been accepted into clinical trials at the National Institutes of Health after exhausting all other treatment options. At The Inn, children and their families receive free lodging and a wide range of supportive services, including educational, therapeutic and recreational activities. The Inn’s mission is to ease the burden of illness on families not just financially but also by helping children stay up-to-date on school work, providing families with volunteer-catered meals and a chance for relaxation, and, after long days of medical tests and treatments, providing fun activities to allow children to be children, not just patients.

"The encouragement that The Children's Inn provides to each child and family is an essential complement to the care they receive, and MedImmune is proud to support their work and these patients," said MedImmune Chief Operating Officer, Dr. Matt Bell, who serves on the board of directors of The Children's Inn at NIH and also heads the board's finance committee. "Our shared vision of following the science to address patient need is a key part of what makes our community—the BioHealth Capitol Region—a national leader in R&D."

Over the years, MedImmune has made gifts totaling nearly $300,000 to support The Children’s Inn’s educational program, purchase new bedding for the family guest rooms, make grocery and gas gift cards available to families while they stay at The Inn, help provide funding for and build a new outdoor play park behind The Inn, and more.

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About The Children’s Inn:
The Children’s Inn at NIH is a private nonprofit with the mission to provide “A Place Like Home” for children and their families participating in pediatric research at the Clinical Center of the world-renowned National Institutes of Health. The Inn reduces families’ burden of illness through free lodging and therapeutic and recreational activities as well as educational support to children. Since opening in 1990, more than 13,000 families from all 50 states and 94 countries have found a second home at The Inn. As a partner in discovery and care with the NIH, The Inn strives for the day when no family endures the heartbreak of a seriously ill child.

About MedImmune:
MedImmune is the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, a global, innovation-driven biopharmaceutical business that focuses on the discovery, development and commercialization of small molecule and biologic prescription medicines. MedImmune is pioneering innovative research and exploring novel pathways across oncology, respiratory, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, and infection and vaccines. The MedImmune headquarters is located in Gaithersburg, Maryland, one of AstraZeneca’s three global R&D centers, with additional sites in Cambridge, United Kingdom, and Mountain View, California. For more information, please visit www.medimmune.com.

Caption:
In addition to several children residing at The Children’s Inn, participating in the ribbon cutting of the ceremonial opening of The Children’s Inn at NIH’s new mailboxes donated by MedImmune, are MedImmune’s leadership team members (from left) Mohammed Dar; Jim Brady; Steve Projan; Inn CEO Jennie Lucca; along with MedImmune’s Matt Bell, who also serves on the board of directors of The Children’s Inn; Gail Wasserman; Cristina Rondinone; John Trainer; Steve Bjornson and Tracy Rossin. MedImmune has been supporting The Children’s Inn for 10 years, making donations totaling about $300,000.