Project Pinball- Then and Now
This coming November will mark two years since we discovered the nearly destroyed Spider-man pinball machine at Chrissy Brown Hematology and Oncology unit at The Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida. The Project Pinball organization was born that very day.
How It All Began:
Our charity all started because the parents of a patient named Jimmy donated a Spider-man pinball machine as a gift to the Children Hospital of Southwest Florida. My better half discovered the machine which was non-operational and desperately in need of parts and repairs too numerous to list.
The pinball community came together by donating of money, time, labor, parts, kind words of support and spreading the word about our cause. From your generous donations, we were able to restore the machine to fine working condition in only six weeks. There was about 108 hours of labor just for the repairs. We worked feverishly to get it back to the kids just in time Christmas! It was truly amazing to see the faces of the children as they saw their Spider-man being returned. It was certainly an uplifting moment.
As we became further involved with the Children's Hospital, we started hearing about the benefits the machine provides that we hadn’t even realized. This was more than just a pinball machine. The benefits that this machine provides those at the hospital were the inspiration for our mission statement.
Project Pinball Mission Statement:
To provide patient, family and staff recreational assistance through pinball at local Children's Hospitals. A pinball machine offers powerful therapeutic benefits which fit perfectly with the dynamics of a hospital environment while providing the additional beneficial effects of keeping patients active and mobile and also providing amusement.
Think about it. Have you ever had the misfortune of being stuck in a hospital room and longed to have something to pass the time? The kids don't want be stuck in their room all day. They need a break. Now consider the parents waiting for their child or even siblings of the patient who are undergoing treatment. They need a small pocket of relief, an escape from the grueling hours spent in hospital waiting areas. Even the doctors and nurses might need a little break to recharge their batteries. Trust me, I see the high score initials and know that there is a doctor or two that has slinked into the spider’s web.
This Spider-man pinball machine is so very important to this environment. Each and every time we service the machine we are greeted with smiles and a genuine “thank you” from every staff person on the floor.
We Are Still Going Strong and Growing:
Project Pinball strongly supports the needs of the children at Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida and we have plans to expand to other Children’s Hospitals. Tampa is our next goal. The pinball machine that will go to St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital of Tampa is being prepared for its introduction into service.
It is through the continued support from many wonderful friends like yourselves that Project Pinball is able to grow.
What We Do to Help Project Pinball & the Pinball Community
We raise awareness by getting out into our communities and setting up pinball machines for our Project Pinball fundraisers to help generate donations, support and to keep our charity growing. We bring the nostalgia back for those “who played when they were a kid”. We also show people that pinball is still alive and flipping.
If you’d like to know more about Project Pinball, you can visit our website here: www.projectpinball.org. We also have a donation page if you’d like to send a few bucks to help us along.
You can show your support on Facebook by visiting Project Pinball and “LIKE” the page: www.Facebook.com/
It’s been a fantastic two years. We’ve come far, we’re still climbing and we have you to thank for it. From all of us at Project Pinball Charity Group, we sincerely thank you all for your wonderful and kind support!
