Published: Nov. 8, 2012
Young gymnasts at Lansing's Red Cedar Gymnastics present a fundraising check for $2,333 to the Sparrow Foundation.
Red Cedar Gymnastics of Lansing literally turned kids upside down to help raise money for the Sparrow Children's Center.
Red Cedar Gymnastics, 4103 Grand Oak Drive, recently participated in a world record attempt with other member clubs of USA Gymnastics for "The Most Simultaneous People Upside Down." Participants as young as 6 months old turned upside down on the floor, mats, bars and beams as part of this year's National Gymnastics Day.
The fundraising efforts garnered about $2,333 - four times as much as Red Cedar Gymnastics collected last year - and also included an in-gym Penny War, a Cartwheel-A-Thon and Open House activities that included refreshments, face painting, prize raffle and contests.
USA Gymnastics is a national partner of the Children's Miracle Network, so as the region's CMN hospital Sparrow received all funds raised in the effort.
"You have helped all the kids at Sparrow enjoy the best pediatric care. You should really feel good about that," Joy Wiseman, a Development Director at the Sparrow Foundation, told dozens of young gymnasts who collected the money.
"It's a very important thing for them to realize that giving back is what we all have to do," said Red Cedar Gymnastics owner Jamie Boyd Hamilton.
Sparrow is the first hospital in mid-Michigan to offer a dedicated children's unit, Sparrow today is home to the region's only full-service pediatric emergency department. And, as the region's CMN hospital, Sparrow is able to provide families the most advanced technology and treatment options in pediatric and neonatal care.