Kootenai | Kootenai Health | Issue 2, 2019

18 By Andrea Nagel Every year Brayden and Emily Tanneberger sit down with their parents and choose a local charity to donate to—a seemingly big decision for 11- and 8-year-olds. Thanks to their generous grandparents, Les and Janet Atchley, these two have the opportunity to learn firsthand how their support can make a difference in the lives of others. “Some of their past donations were to the Kootenai County Humane Society and Children’s Village, but they were pretty simple transactions,” said Aimee Tanneberger, Brayden and Emily’s mother. “This year Emily felt strongly about helping sick kids, so my dad contacted Julie Holt at the Kootenai Health Foundation to see what some of their options might be.” Brayden and Emily, along with their parents, met with the Foundation to learn about three different projects they could help support. “I met with Brayden and Emily just as I would meet with any other donor looking to support a project at Kootenai,” said Julie Holt, Kootenai Health Foundation president. “All ideas presented were somehow related to our services for children. They asked some good questions throughout the process and thought about it for a couple of days before making a decision.” Visual communication The Tanneberger duo decided to help fund the printing of a new book designed to help educate parents of babies in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) about their care plan and goals. The Caterpillar Book visually represents the baby’s care plan, with the steps and goals written in parent-friendly terms. “We hope that by providing a common vocabulary between parents and medical providers, parents will feel more comfortable asking questions of their baby’s medical team and hopefully increase their confidence in what they can do for their babies within the unfamiliar NICU setting,” said Linsey Willoughby, a speech-language pathologist and the book’s co-creator. “Having a baby in the NICU can be stressful and is an unexpected part of their journey into LITTLE HANDS, Big Hearts Two kids help fund a project to enhance care for babies in the NICU