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By Paula Green
February is American Heart Month, focusing on raising awareness about cardiovascular health. In February 2021, Robert Phillips was a cardiac patient at UPMC Passavant in McCandless after undergoing quadruple bypass surgery.
“During the pandemic, strict visitation regulations were in place, allowing only my mother to enter my father’s room. Whenever we visited, my family and I would stand outside his window waving and talking to him on the cell phone. My daughter, Isabella, was ten years old at the time, and she felt distressed about not being able to see her ‘pappy’ in person. This frustration inspired Isabella to devise a fundraising idea to support her pappy and other cardiovascular patients at UPMC Passavant,” said Shaler resident Samantha Ludwig.
"Isabella launched Donations from the Heart, a program that provides care packages for cardiac patients at UPMC Passavant. Each package is filled with various items including blankets, decks of cards, puzzle books, squishy pillows, lip balm, combs, brushes, toothpaste, and toothbrushes. In our first year, we collected enough donations to fill 136 bags," Samantha said.
"I did this for my pap. I wanted to help him and the other patients at the hospital," Isabella said. Since then, the Ludwig family has been running this care package initiative every year.
"We have various ways to collect items including social media; Venmo; Isabella’s school, Shaler Area Middle; and Burn Boot Camp in Wexford. Studio Raw on Babcock Boulevard, where we get our hair done, has been wonderful about allowing us to have a collection site. The owner, Dan Burda, is fully supporting us,” Samantha added.
Last summer, Isabella expanded the fundraising effort to include a lemonade stand. "With the money raised, we purchased items for the donation bags. We rely heavily on monetary donations. Isabella now has her two sisters, Victoria (8) and Cassandra (6), helping with the lemonade stand. It is now called the Ludwig Girls Fundraiser. The girls raised $450 last July," said Samantha.
"My husband Mark and I couldn't be prouder of Isabella. She conceived the fundraising idea, collected items, shopped for merchandise, and assembled the packages, all while involving her younger sisters. This project has become a family fundraiser; we all participate, and my mother, Debra, is involved too," noted Samantha.
For her fundraising efforts, Isabella was honored by the Q92.9FM radio station as a "Kind Kid of the Month." She received a $500 Visa card, $100 in Nike gift cards, and 20 tickets to a Washington Wild Things game.
The Ludwig family plans to deliver this year's Donations from the Heart to UPMC Passavant at the end of February or the beginning of March. The Passavant Hospital Foundation will distribute the donations to UPMC's Heart and Vascular Institute.
Monetary donations are being accepted via Venmo@Samantha-Ludwig-14, and for more information about the program, visit donationsfromtheheart@yahoo.com.