January 4, 2025 • 11 mins
We spoke with PJ Day Co-Founder Tara Wesoloskie and Certified Child Life Specialist Kelly Foy about PJ Day and the impact it has made on others and the community.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, Thank you for listening to Community Access. My
guest this morning is Tara Wesslowski. She's the co founder
of PJ Day at the Connecticut Children's Medical Center. And
we also have Kelly Foy, she's a certified Child Life
Specialist at the Connecticut Children's Medical Center and she's here
to talk about the Virtual Toy Drive. Good morning, ladies.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Good morning.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
So recently you had PJ Day. Tell me all about that.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
So.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
PJ Day is a fundraising an awareness campaign that raises
money for children finding cancer at Connecticut Children's Medical Center
and we have raised four million dollars to date. It
is an annual event. Currently we've had at least one
school in every town in the state of connecticuts one
hundred and sixty nine towns participating, which this was the
(00:48):
third year that we had complete participationly in that way,
and we had a very big day on Friday. People
celebrated at schools, businesses. We had first respond police, firefighters.
Even though they couldn't wear their pajamas, they were able
to wear pins and raise awareness as well.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
And why was it created? How did it all begin?
Speaker 3 (01:09):
So after my own child had cancer, My daughter was
diagnosed with cancer when she was just three weeks old,
and I had worked at the medical center for about
ten years at that point, so we had kind of
gone through our own battle. After that, my son, who
when he was seven, decided he wanted to do something
to give back to the hospital and also to help
(01:29):
the kids that were still there fighting. Decided he wanted
everyone to wear their pajamas to school in solidarity with
the patients who continued to fight. He had said his
sister needed to wear her pajamas liked all the time,
so he wanted everybody to do this on this one
day and bring a donation of a dollar or more.
The first year that we did this, in twenty eleven,
we raised five hundred dollars. We felt like it was
(01:51):
a very big success. There was a lot of positivity
around it, and since then it's grown into something we
never could have imagined. So we are on our fourteenth year.
We've raised four million dollars. Last year alone, we raised
six hundred and eighty thousand dollars. And this is you know,
this started off because of one child, but this is
an event that is held in communities across the state
(02:11):
of Connecticut and in honor and memory very often of
other children who are fighting their own battles. And you know,
even in communities where people have not had this experience,
there's overwhelming support for these children statewide.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
And we're happy to say that your daughter is healthy
and well.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
She's seventeen years cancer free, so she is very healthy.
So long time ago, I said, this became really not
about her at all, but really about all of the
other kids that are still fighting and in all the
kids that we honor by doing this event as well.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
So what is this year's goal?
Speaker 3 (02:45):
My goal is always to do the most good that
we possibly can do, which you know every year. So
far we have exceeded the previous year's fundraising by by
a good bit. So we're hoping to raise seven hundred
and fifty two thousand dollars this year.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
And what will you use the money for?
Speaker 3 (03:03):
The funds benefit the cancer programs at Connecticut children So
the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders. The large amount
of it is donated to research and clinical trials, and
there's a portion that also goes to care for the
patients at Connecticut Children's.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
How can people get involved? Do they go to the
website and sign up?
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (03:21):
So We've had a lot of people participated on the
state wide day, which was this past Friday, Friday the thirteenth.
It's always a second Friday in December because it has
been passed as an official day of awareness in the
state of Connecticut at our capital a couple of years ago.
But if you would like to hold a PJ Day
on your a day of your own choice, there's just
no bad day to raise funds for kids find cancer.
So you can go to our website which is www
(03:44):
dot Pjday Forthekids dot org and you can sign up
their schools, businesses. We even have families who have their
Christmas parties and have people you know donate and come
that way. There's no nobody who's excluded from this. It's
very simple to do. The donation is very small, so
a dollar or more. It's really very inclusive and very easy.
(04:07):
It's the comfiest, coziest way to really help save lives.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Absolutely. What if you're in a job where it's impossible
to wear pjs, what can you do?
Speaker 3 (04:15):
So we do have our Heroes for Heroes PIN program,
which started off with our first responders so police fire ems.
We do have a variety of other people and other
professions where they really can't. We've had attorneys who are
in core people who cannot wear their pajamas and their
will who are able to wear this pin in solidarity
with the patients as well. And we have people who
(04:36):
are doing that, you know, throughout the month of December
and January.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
How has this program touched your life specifically?
Speaker 3 (04:42):
So for us, it's really been positive to be able
to give back after everything that we've been through to
help our caregivers be able to help advance treatment. When
my daughter had finished her treatment, there are very few
options for treatment of the type of cancer she had,
particular really relapsed cancer of that type. And since then,
(05:04):
due to clinical trials and the funds that were raising
that helped fund some of that, there's so many more
options for kids. And this is just you know, a
decade and a half later.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Wow, how great do you feel?
Speaker 3 (05:16):
It feels great? I really think it's nice to see
everybody coming together. The best part for me. We had
asked one of the patients on a news interview two
years ago at the hospital how she felt knowing that
people on that day were all across the state standing
together and wearing their pajamas and on her her and
she said it made her feel very loved, And I
think that that's a really important piece of this. The
(05:37):
funds are important, certainly, the awareness is important, but I
think the feeling that this generates, both for the patients
and for all of the participants is just really overwhelming.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
And it's amazing that this happened in your life and
you used what happened in your life to make good
with it.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Yes. Well, and I'm a nursa Connecticut Children's for the
last twenty four years, so somewhere, you know, halfway through
my own career, we had this experience which has certainly
affected the way that, you know, I give care, but
also it's opened my eyes to seeing what patients go through.
So I think giving this added level of support is
so important to me. It really just you know, it
(06:14):
drives home why why we always say hashtag why we PJ?
So you can find lots of reasons out there, but
very important.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Was there a reason that this particular PJ Day this
year was more special?
Speaker 3 (06:28):
So for us, this PJ Day was very important because
we had a patient who had long term been a
very central part of this event with us. She was
very involved at her school. Her father was a principal
at another school, and they were very, very involved in
the entire West Herford community. Her school and Simsbury was
(06:50):
the top fund raising school year after year, and it
was something that she was very passionate about. And we
lost her this fall and it was very important for
us and for her family to really try to make
this the best PJA Day that we have had to
date in her memory, in her honor.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
And that's our job is to celebrate and honor her
for the rest of our lives. To anyone who will listen,
Yes again, go to Pjday Forthekids dot org if you'd
like to do a Pjday donate or more. We're going
to switch gears down and speak with Kelly Foy, who
is doing a virtual toy drive, so tell me all
about it.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
So at Connecticut Children's we use toys for so many
different things. You know, we are the only free standing
children's hospital in the state and toys are a big
part of the work that we do with our patients
and we get those toys through donations and the virtual
toy drive this year is the best way that we
can help support that need for toys for our patients
at the hospital.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
How does that work exactly when you say virtual?
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Yeah, So, a virtual toy drive is when you can
sign up as an individual or as a team and
you're able to raise funds on one of our hospital
website and that's give dot Connecticut Children's dot org backslash
Toy Drive and you're able to raise money and then
with that money, childlife specialists like myself are able to
purchase toys that we need for children at the medical center.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
How are some of the toys used at the hospital.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
We use toys for so many different things. One of
my favorite ways to use toys is helping to teach
kids about what's happening to them at the hospital. So
if a kid needs an ivy placed for or a
different tube in their body, we can get a Spider
Man doll and put the tube in Spider Man so
that they can see that real life on a doll
that then they can keep with them. We use toys
as prizes following procedures, but we also use toys for
(08:38):
education and motivation as well.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
What are some of the most popular toys they want
this year?
Speaker 2 (08:43):
So Legos are always a big popular toy for any
age patient we see at the hospital. We see patients
all the way up into their twenties, so who doesn't
love a lego in building And then we're able to
use them too for our younger patients who might need
more help with their fine motor skills. And that dexterity
slime is ever popular. We know it's not popular at
home with the carpets, but rug at the hospital, we
(09:05):
don't have carpets, so we and kids love making slime
and doing different crafts. We use toys, like I said,
like dolls or stuffed animals to be able to help
teach kids about the different tubes in their bodies. And
then we also use different types of educational toys to
help promote developmental milestones for kids in the hospital as
well as toys for incentives. So say we have a
(09:26):
child that has had their tonsils out and they need
to be able to drink something before they go home,
but they're scared. We can have a tea party set
and have a play tea party with them to encourage
that drinking to be able to get them out of
the hospital and home with their family.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
So exactly what do we need to do go to
the website.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Yep, we can go to the website and sign up
for a virtual toy drive. Again. You can sign up
as an individual or as a team, and when you
raise those funds, those funds will come back to our
Childlife department and we'll be able to purchase the items
that we need for patients at the hospital through the
whole year. And these funds that we raise now are
able to support those needs throughout the year. So whether
it's having sensory items for children with autism or other
(10:02):
sensory sensitivities, again, those are things that we don't see
a lot of in physical toy donations, but where these
funds were able to purchase those and be able to
serve that population that we have at the hospital as well.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Will you pick a particular day like Christmas this year
to give the kids toys?
Speaker 2 (10:17):
So we have all throughout the year we use toys.
One of our big events that we have at the
hospital is our Snowflake Shop, and that's an event that
we have for our families that are inpatient the few
days leading up to Christmas where they're able to come
down and really do what we call kind of a
free shopping experience and they're able to pick out a
certain number of items that can be for anybody that
they have in their family. It can be for the
(10:38):
child that's in the hospital, it can be for siblings
at home, for cousins. But we know that being in
the hospital around the holidays can be very stressful, so
this is a way that we're able to use these
donations to help alleviate some of that stress for our families.
The focus right now is very heavily around the holidays,
but the Virtual Toy Drive you can sign up at
any point throughout the year if you are interested in
(10:59):
buying toys. Again, we're trying to really encourage a virtual
toy drive so we're able to purchase the items that
we need for our patient population. But if you are
interested in donating toys, we ask that you reach out
to Toys at Connecticut Children's dot org to speak with
our donations team to see what items are helpful for
us before purchasing them.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
So I just did a Toys for Touch drive, and
I know people are constantly doing toy drives. They can
also incorporate their toy drive into your virtual Toy drive.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Absolutely, and again that Toys at Connecticut children dot org
email is going to be the best point of contact
for anybody looking to make a physical donation.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
I'm speaking with Kelly Foy, certified childlife Specialists at Connecticut
Children's Medical Center, and Tara Wazilowski, co founder of Pjday
at Connecticut Children's Medical Center. She's a nurse there as well.
Pjday and the Virtual Toy Drive all happening at Connecticut
Children's Medical Center. I want to thank the both of you.
Thank you for blessing the community. We appreciate the both
(11:56):
of you. Thank you so much.
Good morning, Thank you for listening to Community Access. My
guest this morning is Tara Wesslowski. She's the co founder
of PJ Day at the Connecticut Children's Medical Center. And
we also have Kelly Foy, she's a certified Child Life
Specialist at the Connecticut Children's Medical Center and she's here
to talk about the Virtual Toy Drive. Good morning, ladies.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Good morning.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
So recently you had PJ Day. Tell me all about that.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
So.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
PJ Day is a fundraising an awareness campaign that raises
money for children finding cancer at Connecticut Children's Medical Center
and we have raised four million dollars to date. It
is an annual event. Currently we've had at least one
school in every town in the state of connecticuts one
hundred and sixty nine towns participating, which this was the
(00:48):
third year that we had complete participationly in that way,
and we had a very big day on Friday. People
celebrated at schools, businesses. We had first respond police, firefighters.
Even though they couldn't wear their pajamas, they were able
to wear pins and raise awareness as well.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
And why was it created? How did it all begin?
Speaker 3 (01:09):
So after my own child had cancer, My daughter was
diagnosed with cancer when she was just three weeks old,
and I had worked at the medical center for about
ten years at that point, so we had kind of
gone through our own battle. After that, my son, who
when he was seven, decided he wanted to do something
to give back to the hospital and also to help
(01:29):
the kids that were still there fighting. Decided he wanted
everyone to wear their pajamas to school in solidarity with
the patients who continued to fight. He had said his
sister needed to wear her pajamas liked all the time,
so he wanted everybody to do this on this one
day and bring a donation of a dollar or more.
The first year that we did this, in twenty eleven,
we raised five hundred dollars. We felt like it was
(01:51):
a very big success. There was a lot of positivity
around it, and since then it's grown into something we
never could have imagined. So we are on our fourteenth year.
We've raised four million dollars. Last year alone, we raised
six hundred and eighty thousand dollars. And this is you know,
this started off because of one child, but this is
an event that is held in communities across the state
(02:11):
of Connecticut and in honor and memory very often of
other children who are fighting their own battles. And you know,
even in communities where people have not had this experience,
there's overwhelming support for these children statewide.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
And we're happy to say that your daughter is healthy
and well.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
She's seventeen years cancer free, so she is very healthy.
So long time ago, I said, this became really not
about her at all, but really about all of the
other kids that are still fighting and in all the
kids that we honor by doing this event as well.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
So what is this year's goal?
Speaker 3 (02:45):
My goal is always to do the most good that
we possibly can do, which you know every year. So
far we have exceeded the previous year's fundraising by by
a good bit. So we're hoping to raise seven hundred
and fifty two thousand dollars this year.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
And what will you use the money for?
Speaker 3 (03:03):
The funds benefit the cancer programs at Connecticut children So
the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders. The large amount
of it is donated to research and clinical trials, and
there's a portion that also goes to care for the
patients at Connecticut Children's.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
How can people get involved? Do they go to the
website and sign up?
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (03:21):
So We've had a lot of people participated on the
state wide day, which was this past Friday, Friday the thirteenth.
It's always a second Friday in December because it has
been passed as an official day of awareness in the
state of Connecticut at our capital a couple of years ago.
But if you would like to hold a PJ Day
on your a day of your own choice, there's just
no bad day to raise funds for kids find cancer.
So you can go to our website which is www
(03:44):
dot Pjday Forthekids dot org and you can sign up
their schools, businesses. We even have families who have their
Christmas parties and have people you know donate and come
that way. There's no nobody who's excluded from this. It's
very simple to do. The donation is very small, so
a dollar or more. It's really very inclusive and very easy.
(04:07):
It's the comfiest, coziest way to really help save lives.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Absolutely. What if you're in a job where it's impossible
to wear pjs, what can you do?
Speaker 3 (04:15):
So we do have our Heroes for Heroes PIN program,
which started off with our first responders so police fire ems.
We do have a variety of other people and other
professions where they really can't. We've had attorneys who are
in core people who cannot wear their pajamas and their
will who are able to wear this pin in solidarity
with the patients as well. And we have people who
(04:36):
are doing that, you know, throughout the month of December
and January.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
How has this program touched your life specifically?
Speaker 3 (04:42):
So for us, it's really been positive to be able
to give back after everything that we've been through to
help our caregivers be able to help advance treatment. When
my daughter had finished her treatment, there are very few
options for treatment of the type of cancer she had,
particular really relapsed cancer of that type. And since then,
(05:04):
due to clinical trials and the funds that were raising
that helped fund some of that, there's so many more
options for kids. And this is just you know, a
decade and a half later.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Wow, how great do you feel?
Speaker 3 (05:16):
It feels great? I really think it's nice to see
everybody coming together. The best part for me. We had
asked one of the patients on a news interview two
years ago at the hospital how she felt knowing that
people on that day were all across the state standing
together and wearing their pajamas and on her her and
she said it made her feel very loved, And I
think that that's a really important piece of this. The
(05:37):
funds are important, certainly, the awareness is important, but I
think the feeling that this generates, both for the patients
and for all of the participants is just really overwhelming.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
And it's amazing that this happened in your life and
you used what happened in your life to make good
with it.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Yes. Well, and I'm a nursa Connecticut Children's for the
last twenty four years, so somewhere, you know, halfway through
my own career, we had this experience which has certainly
affected the way that, you know, I give care, but
also it's opened my eyes to seeing what patients go through.
So I think giving this added level of support is
so important to me. It really just you know, it
(06:14):
drives home why why we always say hashtag why we PJ?
So you can find lots of reasons out there, but
very important.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Was there a reason that this particular PJ Day this
year was more special?
Speaker 3 (06:28):
So for us, this PJ Day was very important because
we had a patient who had long term been a
very central part of this event with us. She was
very involved at her school. Her father was a principal
at another school, and they were very, very involved in
the entire West Herford community. Her school and Simsbury was
(06:50):
the top fund raising school year after year, and it
was something that she was very passionate about. And we
lost her this fall and it was very important for
us and for her family to really try to make
this the best PJA Day that we have had to
date in her memory, in her honor.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
And that's our job is to celebrate and honor her
for the rest of our lives. To anyone who will listen,
Yes again, go to Pjday Forthekids dot org if you'd
like to do a Pjday donate or more. We're going
to switch gears down and speak with Kelly Foy, who
is doing a virtual toy drive, so tell me all
about it.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
So at Connecticut Children's we use toys for so many
different things. You know, we are the only free standing
children's hospital in the state and toys are a big
part of the work that we do with our patients
and we get those toys through donations and the virtual
toy drive this year is the best way that we
can help support that need for toys for our patients
at the hospital.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
How does that work exactly when you say virtual?
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Yeah, So, a virtual toy drive is when you can
sign up as an individual or as a team and
you're able to raise funds on one of our hospital
website and that's give dot Connecticut Children's dot org backslash
Toy Drive and you're able to raise money and then
with that money, childlife specialists like myself are able to
purchase toys that we need for children at the medical center.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
How are some of the toys used at the hospital.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
We use toys for so many different things. One of
my favorite ways to use toys is helping to teach
kids about what's happening to them at the hospital. So
if a kid needs an ivy placed for or a
different tube in their body, we can get a Spider
Man doll and put the tube in Spider Man so
that they can see that real life on a doll
that then they can keep with them. We use toys
as prizes following procedures, but we also use toys for
(08:38):
education and motivation as well.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
What are some of the most popular toys they want
this year?
Speaker 2 (08:43):
So Legos are always a big popular toy for any
age patient we see at the hospital. We see patients
all the way up into their twenties, so who doesn't
love a lego in building And then we're able to
use them too for our younger patients who might need
more help with their fine motor skills. And that dexterity
slime is ever popular. We know it's not popular at
home with the carpets, but rug at the hospital, we
(09:05):
don't have carpets, so we and kids love making slime
and doing different crafts. We use toys, like I said,
like dolls or stuffed animals to be able to help
teach kids about the different tubes in their bodies. And
then we also use different types of educational toys to
help promote developmental milestones for kids in the hospital as
well as toys for incentives. So say we have a
(09:26):
child that has had their tonsils out and they need
to be able to drink something before they go home,
but they're scared. We can have a tea party set
and have a play tea party with them to encourage
that drinking to be able to get them out of
the hospital and home with their family.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
So exactly what do we need to do go to
the website.
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Yep, we can go to the website and sign up
for a virtual toy drive. Again. You can sign up
as an individual or as a team, and when you
raise those funds, those funds will come back to our
Childlife department and we'll be able to purchase the items
that we need for patients at the hospital through the
whole year. And these funds that we raise now are
able to support those needs throughout the year. So whether
it's having sensory items for children with autism or other
(10:02):
sensory sensitivities, again, those are things that we don't see
a lot of in physical toy donations, but where these
funds were able to purchase those and be able to
serve that population that we have at the hospital as well.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
Will you pick a particular day like Christmas this year
to give the kids toys?
Speaker 2 (10:17):
So we have all throughout the year we use toys.
One of our big events that we have at the
hospital is our Snowflake Shop, and that's an event that
we have for our families that are inpatient the few
days leading up to Christmas where they're able to come
down and really do what we call kind of a
free shopping experience and they're able to pick out a
certain number of items that can be for anybody that
they have in their family. It can be for the
(10:38):
child that's in the hospital, it can be for siblings
at home, for cousins. But we know that being in
the hospital around the holidays can be very stressful, so
this is a way that we're able to use these
donations to help alleviate some of that stress for our families.
The focus right now is very heavily around the holidays,
but the Virtual Toy Drive you can sign up at
any point throughout the year if you are interested in
(10:59):
buying toys. Again, we're trying to really encourage a virtual
toy drive so we're able to purchase the items that
we need for our patient population. But if you are
interested in donating toys, we ask that you reach out
to Toys at Connecticut Children's dot org to speak with
our donations team to see what items are helpful for
us before purchasing them.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
So I just did a Toys for Touch drive, and
I know people are constantly doing toy drives. They can
also incorporate their toy drive into your virtual Toy drive.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Absolutely, and again that Toys at Connecticut children dot org
email is going to be the best point of contact
for anybody looking to make a physical donation.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
I'm speaking with Kelly Foy, certified childlife Specialists at Connecticut
Children's Medical Center, and Tara Wazilowski, co founder of Pjday
at Connecticut Children's Medical Center. She's a nurse there as well.
Pjday and the Virtual Toy Drive all happening at Connecticut
Children's Medical Center. I want to thank the both of you.
Thank you for blessing the community. We appreciate the both
(11:56):
of you. Thank you so much.
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I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!