Press releases

Released May 9, 2001
Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital news release

Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital Receives First Jester & Pharley Smile Cart

For more information, call 203-688-2493 or E-mail Mark D'Antonio

Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital has received the first Jester & Pharley Smile Cart in the United States.

The vertical toy box on wheels, designed to bring cheer to ill children, was unveiled and donated to Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital by the William Dooley Foundation of Chicago. It is based on the inspiring characters from the children's book The Jester Has Lost His Jingle, written and illustrated by the late David Saltzman (Yale '89). Barbara Saltzman, David's mother and executive director of the Jester and Pharley Phund, dedicated the humor cart. The cart was donated in honor of Molly Meyer, nurse practitioner for Yale University Health Services.

"This cart is dedicated to bringing lessons of hope, strength of character and self- reliance that are emblematic of David's book," said Mrs. Saltzman. "It was David's hope that the Jester & Pharley will continue to bring smiles and emotional support to all the children who read the book and enjoy this cart."

More than 35,000 copies of The Jester Has Lost His Jingle and 30,000 Jester & Pharley dolls have been given to ill and special needs children and literacy programs since the book's release in 1995. Other smile carts are scheduled to be donated in California to Children's Hospital Los Angeles, UCLA-Mattel Children's Hospital, Children's Hospital of Orange County, as well as Long Beach Memorial Hospital.

For more information on the Smile Cart or for photos of the cart (black and white or digital), please contact Mark D'Antonio at (203) 688-2493.

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