Brooklyn Ruritan Breakfast benefits Big Hearts 4 Tiny Hands

     Jessie Lacaeyse, a board member of Big Hearts 4 Tiny Hands, left, hands a customer a fresh cup of hot coffee at the Brooklyn Ruritan Breakfast on Sunday, Feb. 18. Funds raised at the breakfast are given to the Big Hearts 4 Tiny Hands organization, who helps families across the county with children in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). Since its founding in 2012, the organization has helped 90 families and 99 babies who have spent 3,726 days in the NICU

By J.O. Parker
 
       At times, the line stretched outside the Brooklyn Ruritan Building on the north edge of town as local and area residents enjoyed a tasty breakfast of pancakes, omelets and other foods while helping an important county-wide organization further its mission.
    Held on Sunday, Feb. 18, the menu included made-to-order omelets, sausages, biscuits and gravy, pancakes, fruit cups, milk, juice and coffee, all for a free will donation.
      Proceeds from the breakfast were directed to Big Hearts 4 Tiny Hands, an outreach that raises funds to help local families with babies in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit).
       In 2023, the organization helped eight families and eight babies who spent 448 days in the NICU. Since its founding in 2012, the organization has helped 90 families and 99 babies who have spent 3,726 days in the NICU.
      The nonprofit organization, under the leadership of an eight-member board, provides a daily stipend to the families who have a child or children in the NICU. The funds, which are in the form of gift cards, are used to offset housing, food and gas. The only requirement is that the family has a connection to Poweshiek County either through work, family or reside in the county.
      The organization was started because there was a need for an outreach to families with prematurely born babies who spend time in the NICU or term babies with complications. Some children can spend two or more months in the NICU.
    Current board members are: Brenda Day, Jenny Bos, Jess Renaud, Julie Meyer, Julie Hendricks, Katie Osborn, Katy Calkins and Jessie Lacaeyse.
All the board members have either had a child in the NICU or a niece or nephew or have helped other families with children in the NICU.
       According to information provided by the University of Iowa children’s medical services, one out of nine mothers do not carry to full term (37 or more weeks) and roughly 100,000 babies end up in the NICU each year.
        Survival rates of premature child are as follows:
        • Babies born at 23 weeks have a 17 percent chance of survival
        • Babies born at 24 weeks have a 39 percent chance of survival
        • Babies born at 25 weeks have a 50 percent chance of survival
         • From 32 weeks onwards, most babies are able to survive with the help of medical technology
        Don and Diane Lastovka and Jim and Elsie Foels with the Brooklyn Ruritans co-chair the annual breakfast.
Jim said several years ago he stopped at the Farm Bureau insurance office of Jenny Bos, a board member of the organization, in Grinnell to look at an insurance policy.
        “I saw a brochure on Big Hearts 4 Tiny Hands and picked it up,” said Jim. “I brought the brochure to the a Ruritan meeting and we decided to host a benefit for the them. They receive the profits from the breakfast.”
     This is the fifth year the Brooklyn Ruritans have held a breakfast for the Big Hearts 4 Tiny Hands organization.
        Jim said this year, the Ruritans were given a donation of eggs from the Pleasant Grove Homestead in rural Montezuma and a monetary donation from Fremont Farms in Malcom.
        “It’s great to see all the support we have for families with babies in the NICU,” said Jessie Lacaeyse, a Big Hearts 4 Tiny Hands board member. “Our donors are the reason we are able to do what we do and we couldn’t do it without them.”
       “The support our communities of Poweshiek County gives Big Hearts 4 Tiny Hands always surprises me,” said board member Jenny Bos. “Over the years, they have showed up to our breakfast, gave generously and helped us in any way possible. It is very heartwarming to witness such support. We also appreciate the Brooklyn Ruritans for choosing our cause to give to.”
       If you were unable to attend the event but would like to donate to the Big Hearts 4 Tiny Hands foundation, please send your tax-deductible donation to: Big Hearts 4 Tiny Hands, P.O. Box 177, Brooklyn, IA 52211.