The Wawa Foundation Donates $35,000 to Deborah F. Sager Memorial Fund

During the grand-opening celebration for the new Wawa store at Landis Avenue and Mill Road in Vineland on Thursday, June 23, Wawa representatives presented a $35,000 check to the Deborah F. Sager Memorial Fund to support the Inspira Vineland NICU.

The Wawa Foundation Has Donated $120,000 in Five Years to Support Premature/Critically Ill Infants in Southern New Jersey

We are incredibly grateful to the Wawa Foundation for being a driving force behind our efforts for the past five years to provide a ‘Pathway to Miracles’ for infants in our community.”
— Amy B. Mansue, President and CEO of Inspira Health
VINELAND, NJ, UNITED STATES, June 27, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Deborah F. Sager Memorial Fund (DFSMF) of the Inspira Health Foundation has announced today that it received a $35,000 grant from The Wawa Foundation Inc. in support of the advanced medical care provided to premature, low birth-weight, and critically ill infants at the Deborah F. Sager Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Inspira Medical Center Vineland.

The donation was presented to representatives of the DFSMF on Thursday during the grand-opening festivities for the new Wawa store at the intersection of Landis Avenue and Mill Road in Vineland, just two miles away from the Deborah F. Sager NICU.

There are thousands of working poor and underinsured residents in our region who often do not receive the basic healthcare they need, especially during pregnancy. Additionally, this region has the highest teen-pregnancy rate in the state of New Jersey. These factors increase the prevalence of premature births and have validated the need for high-level neonatal care.

This very specialized care is administered through a collaboration between Nemours Children’s Health System and Inspira Health, where Nemours neonatologists are coupled with intensively trained and experienced Inspira neo-natal nurses. This enhanced health care is available 24/7 to these vulnerable infants, “making miracles happen” one day at a time.

The Deborah F. Sager NICU provides enhanced medical care for premature, low birth-weight, and critically ill infants from Cumberland and Salem counties, and parts of Gloucester, Atlantic, and Cape May counties.

The gift of $35,000 is the fifth in a series of annual grants from The Wawa Foundation totaling $120,000 to date in support of the Deborah F. Sager Memorial Fund (DFSMF).

“Protecting the health and well-being of our communities is critically important and it’s the reason we are so committed to the delivery of exceptional health care at the Deborah F. Sager NICU,” said Amy B. Mansue, President and CEO of Inspira Health. “We are incredibly grateful to the Wawa Foundation for being a driving force behind our efforts for the past five years to provide a ‘Pathway to Miracles’ for infants in our community.”

“We at The Wawa Foundation are proud to support the growth and improvement of the Deborah F. Sager Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Inspira Medical Center in Vineland,” said Jared Culotta, Treasurer of Wawa, and Chair of The Wawa Foundation. “We are committed to improving lives in the communities we serve by supporting local organizations that help to provide the life-saving care for infants and children that so many of the region’s families depend upon.”

Premature babies – those born as early as 23 weeks – have more health problems and require longer hospital stays than full-term babies and may also have long-term health problems that can affect their whole lives. According to the Centers for Disease Control, in 2019, preterm birth and low birth weight accounted for about 17 percent of infant deaths (deaths before one year of age). Babies who survive may have breathing problems, feeding difficulties, cerebral palsy, developmental delays, vision problems, and hearing problems.

In 2021 alone, the Deborah F. Sager NICU cared for 282 babies, 26 of whom were born at just 22-28 weeks.

Thanks to the generosity of individual and corporate donors like The Wawa Foundation, the Deborah F. Sager Memorial Fund contributed more than $400,000 for new state-of-the-art beds, BiliCocoons, and other equipment to the Deborah F. Sager NICU in recent years. The new equipment includes new Giraffe OmniBed Carestations, which are temperature-controlled beds for very small preterm babies that allow parents and caregivers to watch and supervise infant activities while reducing the need to remove the infant from the bed. The BiliCocoons are phototherapy devices that treat neonatal jaundice without compromising the relationship between mother and newborn.

About DFSMF:
The Deborah F. Sager Memorial Fund (DFSMF) is a restricted fund of Inspira Health Foundation. The earnings from the fund are used exclusively to enhance the delivery of medical care for the Deborah F. Sager Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and for all children at Inspira Health. It is projected that the DFSMF fund balance will eclipse $1 million for the first time in 2022, which will produce even more earnings in the future. Since its founding in 1978, the DFSMF has made numerous vital contributions totaling more than $700,000 to the NICU at Inspira Medical Center Vineland, which now bears the name “The Deborah F. Sager Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.” For more information or to donate, visit dfsmf.org or contact Inspira Health Foundation at 856-535-9405.

About the Wawa Foundation:
The Wawa Foundation is an extension of Wawa’s commitment to making the world a better place by fulfilling customers’ lives every day. The Wawa Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation founded by Wawa, Inc. to support the company’s charitable giving and philanthropic activities – and ultimately to help build happier, stronger communities by championing life-saving research and care for people in need, leading hunger relief efforts and supporting the heroes making a difference every day. Since 2014, Wawa and The Wawa Foundation have donated more than $120 million to make a real difference in the lives of so many in the areas of health, hunger, and everyday heroes.

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Performance Marketing
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