'Supermoms' at Colorado hospitals with their kids get gifts for Mother's Day
A mom who knows what it's like came up with the idea to pamper the forgotten.
— -- This Mother's Day, 175 moms across Colorado who are spending the day in the hospital caring for a sick child will be recognized with a gift.
It's the work of a group called "Celebrating Supermoms," created and led by Sarah Portillo, herself a mom who knows all too well the struggles of spending weeks and sometimes months on end inside hospital walls.
"It's saying, 'Hey we see you, we want to encourage you,'" Portillo told ABC News. Her daughter, Lily, has acute medical needs. It was back in 2008 when Lily was 5 and needed surgery and recovery that fell over Mother's Day weekend that Portillo said she first had the thought that hospitals should have volunteer events for moms over the holiday.
Fast forward seven years later and she reconnected with a friend, Rachele Chrismer, and found out her son had passed away on Mother's Day. Chrismer was passing out gift bags in Zack's honor.
It was then Portillo decided she could take that idea and make it bigger, though she credits Chrismer with sparking her Celebrating Supermoms movement. Chrismer has since moved to Minnesota and still passes out gift bags to moms.
Fundraising for Portillo's "supermom" gift bags begins in the fall each year, she said. The bags often include a book, toothpaste, toothbrush, a cozy blanket, nail polish, gift cards and more. "One of the reasons these moms are so super is because they don't expect it at all. They are doing what they feel they are supposed to be doing to the best of their abilities."
Still, being away from home to care for a hospital-bound child is stressful for mothers.
"They're often miles and miles away from family and other children," Portillo said. "They have nobody. Walk down a hospital hall and see the moms with their kids, the majority of the time, they're not rested, not bathed, haven't eaten. What they and their child are going through is overwhelming."
Anna Pakiz was the recipient of a gift bag two years in a row. Her daughter, Caroline, had hollow visceral myopathy, a digestive disorder, and "spent more time in the hospital than not," Pakiz told ABC News.
Caroline passed away in July 2016 when she was 5 years old.
This year, Pakiz will be handing out supermom bags at Rocky Mountain Children's Hospital, expanding the program from two hospitals to three. The others are Children’s Hospital Colorado and Poudre Valley Medical Center.
"Every child's illness is different," Pakiz said, "but I feel like I can relate to their position. I do know what it is like to be in hospital day after day, away from other kids. You don’t always feel like the best mom."
She hopes the idea will spread to hospitals around the country.
Pakiz said she thinks Caroline would like that she's spending this first Mother's Day without her helping out others in need. "I think, I hope she'd be proud."
