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Kohl’s Cares®

Keeping Kids Safe One Seat at a Time

The parents of Ethan Donovan were in a tough situation. Ethan’s mother, Jean, and his father, Dakota, had to find a way to get their 10-year-old son home after his surgery at Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach. Ethan had to have hip surgery which resulted in him being in a special cast, called a spica cast, for two months. This type of cast immobilizes the hips and thighs so that bones and/or tendons can properly heal. However, this large cast leaves kids virtually immobile from the waist down.

Transporting Ethan home from the hospital would be hard enough, let alone getting him everywhere the family needed to go over the next three months. Ethan’s legs stuck out at an awkward angle and the family didn’t have a car big enough to strap him down safely. Kids with spica casts can’t sit in regular car seats or be in traditional seat belts, so it’s very unsafe for them to be transported. They didn’t have many options to get Ethan home.

“I was told by the hospital that we couldn’t take him home without being strapped in and then we talked about taking him home in an ambulance, said Jean. “I was worried about getting him around after that and to his follow-up appointments.”

Their only option to conveniently and safely transport Ethan, was to purchase an E-Z-ON vest specifically made for spica casts. This vest would allow him to be strapped into the back seat of a car securely. However, these types of vests can be hundreds of dollars and are only needed for a few months.

Luckily, through a grant from the Kohl’s Corporation, Miller Children’s was able to purchase the vest for Ethan’s family. By having this vest, they would be able to safely drive Ethan around the community and to his follow-up appointments. As part of the grant through Kohl’s, the hospital has been able to do local outreach to promote and educate parents and caregivers about childhood safety and wellness in Long Beach, South Bay and North Orange County communities.

“We are thankful to the Kohl’s Corporation for helping families like us. This specialized equipment is hard to get but is necessary to ensure Ethan’s safety,” says Jean. “It’s very nice of Kohl’s to help patients in need and this vest gave my son the opportunity to feel comfortable, remain safe and to live as normally as possible while he was healing.”

Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach has teamed up with Kohl’s Department Stores for a childhood safety initiative called Kohl's Keeping Kids Safe. This initiative, which is part of Kohl's Cares®, provides safety education in the Miller Children's community - to prevent injury before hospitalization.

As a part of this national initiative, local outreach is being done to promote childhood safety and wellness in communities that local Kohl’s stores serve. Kohl’s partnered with Miller Children’s to help educate and protect children of the Long Beach, South Bay and North Orange County communities.

Kohl’s Keeping Kids Safe Program

Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach and Kohl’s established the Kohl’s Keeping Kids Safe Program, allowing Miller Children’s to expand childhood safety programs further in the community and help to educate and keep kids safe once discharged from the hospital.

Kohl’s Keeping Kids Safe can provide:

Car seats to families who don’t have them upon discharge
Spica Cast car seat loaner program for children who have oversized casts
Helmets certified by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Educational materials promoting preventative care, such as: passenger, bicycle and pedestrian safety

Shop to Support Kohl’s Keeping Kids Safe

One hundred percent of net profits from special Kohl's Cares® plush toys and books purchased at 14 local Kohl’s stores will benefit the Kohl’s Keeping Kids Safe Program at Miller Children's. Four times a year the merchandise changes. Find out more about the current Kohl's Cares® cause merchandise program here.

By spending $5 on special Kohl's Cares® merchandise at your local Kohl’s you will have a hand in helping to purchase car seats and helmets for Miller Children’s patients and families and help raise awareness of the importance of childhood safety in the community.

Local Participating Kohl’s Stores:

Buena Park
Huntington Beach
Mira Loma
Westchester
Menifee
Huntington
Cypress
Cerritos
Torrance
Lakewood
Seal Beach
Downey
Redondo Beach
Whittier