CLEARFIELD – During Saturday’s third annual Color the Night fundraiser, Matt and Annie (Flegal) Hinton, co-founders of Brady’s Smile Inc., painted vivid pictures of the lives that have been and are soon to be touched by the support of those who were in attendance.
In 2008, the couple established their children’s-based 501(c)(3) charitable organization, which now has programs in 14 hospitals in seven states. Clearfield Hospital became one of only four to partner in Pennsylvania and will receive $10,000 of the event’s proceeds for the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric asthma.
Matt said he didn’t want to give the same speech but wanted to “pretend” in the event’s third year. He asked the attendees to envision themselves at work around 3 p.m. Friday at which time they are called into a meeting with their boss hours before the start of the weekend.
“Your firm isn’t doing well, and you’re laid off. You pack up your office; you pack up your car,” he said. “On your way home, you hit a deer and swerve (only to) strike a tree. You walk home to blow off some steam.”
He said rain begins to fall on the journey home; at first, the raindrops amount to a light drizzle. But then the rain begins to pick up and fall at a steadier pace. With the rain falling harder now, they must run home.
Matt said, “You arrive home; you think you’re safe. You think your day couldn’t get any worse. But you flip through your mail and find an eviction notice.”
“You look into the room to your left, and there is your (son or daughter). They are playing with a friend; they are playing Nintendo Wii. Everything is OK.”
He said they later wake up and realize it was all just a dream. His next scenario wasn’t a dream for them, however. He said their child was neither playing nor OK.
This time around, Matt described their child hooked up to tubes and monitors in an intensive care unit. Next to their son or daughter’s hospital bed, he said they sit motionless with their eyes fixed on the heart rate monitor.
“It is a nightmare. You wish you could go back to the dream. That’s a day in the life of Brady’s Smile Inc.,” he said. With the help of supporters, such as those in attendance, he said their comfort bags and blankets are able to soothe children and touch the lives of families.
While their organization hasn’t cured any diseases, Matt said he and wife, Annie hope to make life a little easier and “take them away” if it’s only for a moment. He said their supporters continue to be the backbone of their charity.
“You are our heroes. Thank you,” he said.
Over the past year, Annie said the couple met with hospital representatives, where their programs are in place, in order to determine their needs. She said each hospital has different needs.
For example, Brady’s Smile Inc. established its first ever children’s library at the Norwalk Hospital in Connecticut. More than 600 books were donated to better serve needs there, she said.
She said they reached out locally while in her hometown of Clearfield for fair week. In a meeting with hospital officials, they learned there were approximately 2,500 children who suffered from lifetime asthma across the county.
However, she said the Clearfield Hospital currently doesn’t have the equipment for proper diagnosis and treatment. She said they entered into a “special partnership” and committed $10,000 of the Color the Night 3 proceeds to help build a pediatric asthma center.
Annie said that all additional event proceeds will fund their children’s-based programs in the intensive care units at the DuBois Regional Medical Center and children’s hospitals in both Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
