Greg Ramer, UAMS Family Home board president, presents Kristi Palmer, M.D., NICU medical director with a check for $12,047.

Dec. 13, 2012 | Dec. 13, 2012 | They may not know it, but Arkansas’ tiniest babies will soon benefit from new equipment and supplies thanks to the UAMS Family Home.

A check for $12,047 was presented to Kristi Palmer, M.D., medical director of the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) by Greg Ramer, president of the UAMS Family Home board of directors.

The donation represented a portion of the proceeds from the annual Tiny Hands Monster Bash fundraiser held in October to benefit the NICU and the UAMS Family Home.

“It’s my honor to present this check to the NICU. Knowing that part of the proceeds from our event directly benefits these babies and their families is really gratifying for all of us at the UAMS Family Home,” Ramer said. The UAMS NICU provides state-of-the-art care for many of Arkansas’ tiniest infants — some weighing less than two pounds and requiring hospitalization for weeks or months. 

The donation will be used for equipment and supplies that assistance in the babies’ development.

Part of the donation also will purchase the supplies needed to provide each family with a plaster mold of their baby’s hand, giving them a tangible remembrance of their time in the NICU.

An amount equivalent to the donation will be used by the UAMS Family Home to provide lodging for parents of babies in the NICU and patients at the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute. The remainder of the total $72,284 raised at the fundraiser provides a portion of the UAMS Family Home’s operating expenses.

The UAMS Family Home is a private, nonprofit organization that provides low-cost, comfortable housing for parents of infants in the NICU and for patients in the UAMS Cancer Institute. The home also houses the Cancer Institute’s Auxiliary Cancer Support Center.