Students Give 'Pennies From Heaven' to St. Anthony's Hospital Breast Center

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Dec 11, 2012, 12:56 ET

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Dec. 11, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Fifth-grade students from a Tampa Bay area school got an up-close look at their dollars in action when they visited the St. Anthony's Hospital Susan Sheppard McGillicuddy Breast Center on Monday, Dec. 10. The students from Blessed Sacrament Catholic School in Seminole, Fla., had raised money for the center in October during Breast Cancer Awareness Month and came for a visit to meet the daughter of the center's namesake and tour the facility.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121211/DC27779 )

"Thank you all so much for your generosity," said Sr. Susan McGillicuddy, OSF, in welcoming the 20 students to the hospital. Sr. Susan is the daughter of the late Susan Sheppard McGillicuddy for whom the center is named. "Thank you so much for doing this. It means a lot to see young people giving of themselves to help others."

Blessed Sacrament Catholic School has a monthly fundraiser called "Pennies from Heaven" in which one class raises money to donate to a worthy cause. During Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, the fifth graders decked their school out in pink to raise money to help those who are battling breast cancer.

When it was time to decide what charity would receive their "pennies" – nearly $150 – the students looked for guidance from their teacher, Marie Reed. Mrs. Reed told the students about her good friend who is receiving treatment at St. Anthony's Susan Sheppard McGillicuddy Breast Center. "The students pray for her each day and they have been so interested in her treatment and how she is doing," Mrs. Reed said.

Mrs. Reed then contacted Robert Sherman, St. Anthony's Hospital Foundation executive director, to officially make the donation for the breast center.

While at St. Anthony's Hospital, the students and their parents also had the opportunity to tour the breast center and meet its medical director, Claudia Bundschu, M.D., a radiologist, who showed the children X-rays, how the ultrasound machine works and thanked them for their show of support for the center.

For more information on St. Anthony's Hospital, please visit the website, www.StAnthonys.com.

About St. Anthony's Hospital
St. Anthony's Hospital is a 395-bed hospital founded in 1931 as a ministry of the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany and was the first faith-based hospital in Pinellas County. St. Anthony's celebrated its 80th year in 2011, and the hospital continues its rich history dedicated to improving the health of the community by providing high-quality, innovative and compassionate care. St. Anthony's has received the 2012 American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's Get With The Guidelines Stroke Gold Plus Performance Achievement award. St. Anthony's Susan Sheppard McGillicuddy Breast Center has received accreditation from both the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers and the American College of Radiology. For superior energy efficiency, St. Anthony's earned the EPA's ENERGY STAR three consecutive times. For more information on St. Anthony's, call (727) 953-6993.

About BayCare Health System
BayCare Health System is a leading community-based health system in the Tampa Bay area. Composed of a network of 10 not-for-profit hospitals, outpatient facilities and services such as imaging, lab, behavioral health and home health care, BayCare provides expert medical care throughout a patient's lifetime. With more than 200 access points conveniently located throughout Tampa Bay, BayCare connects patients to a complete range of preventive, diagnostic and treatment services for any health care need.

BayCare's family of hospitals are: Mease Countryside, Mease Dunedin, Morton Plant, Morton Plant North Bay, St. Anthony's, St. Joseph's, St. Joseph's Children's, St. Joseph's Hospital-North, St. Joseph's Women's, and South Florida Baptist. For more information, visit BayCare on the Web at www.BayCare.org.

SOURCE BayCare Health System