The GIANT Company launches Car Seat Safety Program in partnership with Penn State Children’s Hospital
In recognition of Child Passenger Safety Week Sept. 20 – 26, Penn State Children’s Hospital and The GIANT Company held a car seat safety check point on September 22 in Harrisburg. The Children’s Hospital and GIANT are teaming up to make such safety sessions more accessible to families in the region.
The car seat safety program is part of The GIANT Company’s recently announced $1 Million gift to Children’s Miracle Network to support Penn State Health’s Pediatric Trauma and Injury Prevention Program.
Among those on-hand at the event held at a GIANT store at Kline Village Shopping Center in Harrisburg were Daren Russ, district director for GIANT stores in the Harrisburg area, and Deborah Berini, president of Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.
The program’s goal is to ease the financial burden for families in need of a car seat and provide safety education. Every 32 seconds in 2018, one child under the age of 13 traveling in a passenger vehicle was involved in a crash, and many times, injury and death can be prevented by correct use of car seats, booster seats and seat belts. However, 59 percent of car seats are not installed correctly according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Currently, the pediatric trauma and injury prevention team hosts as many as six car seat safety stations per month in Dauphin County. The funding from The GIANT Company will expand this service in Dauphin County and add services in Lebanon, York, Cumberland and Berks counties. Parents or expecting parents can apply to receive a seat and/or schedule a safety check at CMNHershey.org/GIANT. The website also details required COVID-19 precautions.
Upcoming sessions at area GIANT stores include:
Harrisburg: 136 Kline Village
•Saturday, Sept. 26: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Reading: 600 E. Lancaster Ave.
•Wednesday, Oct. 7: 3 – 7 p.m.
•Saturday, Oct. 10: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Halifax: 3777 Peters Mt. Rd.
•Wednesday, Oct. 21: 3 – 7 p.m.
•Saturday, Oct. 24: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Cleona: 481 W. Penn Ave.
•Wednesday, Nov. 4: 3 – 7 p.m.
•Saturday, Nov. 7: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Hanover: 455 Eisenhower Dr.
•Wednesday, Nov. 18: 3 – 7 p.m.
•Saturday, Nov. 21: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
York: 2415 E. Market St.
•Wednesday, Dec. 2: 3 – 7 p.m.
•Saturday, Dec. 5: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
NOTE: High-resolution images from this event can be downloaded here.
The GIANT Company’s $1 million gift to Children’s Miracle Network is also supporting the three-floor expansion of Penn State Children’s Hospital. The GIANT Company will be recognized for its support on two “Walls of Hope” in the new Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), which is scheduled to open this fall. The walls will include large screen monitors that display inspiring images of children who have “graduated” from the NICU. The gift will also expand the Penn State PRO Wellness Healthy Champions program, which currently reaches more than 600 schools K-12 across Pennsylvania. The program assesses each school’s nutrition and wellness initiatives and provides tailored resources for improvement including food demonstrations, special events and educational resources.
In addition to the $1 million gift, The GIANT Company raised $446,570 this summer for Children’s Miracle Network at Penn State Children’s Hospital by collecting donations at the register, round up at self-checkout, selling reusable bags and the donation of customer’s Choice Rewards points. In March, The GIANT Company also donated $250,000 to five Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals including Penn State Children’s Hospital to support COVID-19 response efforts. The GIANT Company also made a gift when the free-standing Penn State Children’s Hospital opened in 2013 and named the elevator vestibule on the first floor. As the top corporate donor to Children’s Miracle Network at Penn State Children’s Hospital, The GIANT Company has donated more than $11 million since 1996 toward the hospital’s mission to provide world-class care for our region’s children.