Sam’s Fans raises over $30,000 at Tarpon Lodge
In May 2015, Nikki McCarthy founded Sam’s Fans, an Ohio-based nonprofit organization designed to support and enhance music and art therapy programs for seriously ill children and their families. She did this after her daughter Samantha passed away from a rare blood disease called, Fanconi Anemia, which causes bone marrow failure.
“Music therapy is the evidence-based practice of using musical interventions to achieve goals in a therapeutic setting,” McCarthy said.
Music therapy, along with art therapy, McCarthy said, is especially useful in the world of pediatrics. Making a place in the pediatric arena by helping with rehabilitation, relieving pain and anxiety, or promoting overall wellness, she said, music is often used as a motivational tool. According to McCarthy, there has been evidence suggesting kids who take part in music therapy often need less pain medication.
“Rather than having sedation for something scary like an MRI, sometimes you can listen to calming music,” McCarthy said.
Samantha was diagnosed at the age of 7, and passed away when she was 11. Her mother describes her as having had an electric personality, but children who are less vocal, she said, will sometimes be more likely to communicate through a piece of artwork or by reaching for a musical instrument. These kinds of therapies may elude many people for a simple lack of knowledge that they exist.
When Samantha was in the hospital, McCarthy and her family not only became familiar with these alternative strategies, but they embraced them, wanting to share the same experience with other families.
“Sam had a bone marrow transplant about 13 years ago and spent a lot of time in the hospital where she had this great music therapist. He changed her mood and her outlook and we wanted to create a legacy after she passed away — music was so meaningful to her, that’s why we went in this direction,” McCarthy said.
Although Sam’s Fans began in Ohio, running programs in all seven children’s hospitals there, they have a program now in Golisano Children’s Hospital in Fort Myers.
McCarthy’s father, Joe Feidner, a long-time resident of St. James City and a board member for Sam’s Fans, was the one who first suggested bringing the program to Southwest Florida and hosting a fundraiser on the island at McCarthy said her father helped her to realize people who offer to fund a project such as this one would appreciate being advocates of their own community. It was that realization that led McCarthy to reach out to Golisano.
“I got in touch with the hospital and said, ‘This is what I do, how can we help you?'” McCarthy said.
Golisano submitted a request for funding, saying it wanted to offer music and art therapy interns a stipend, in an effort to attract the best interns available. Commonly, said McCarthy, music and art therapy interns must complete around a 6-month internship, with no pay.
At the Nov. 4 fundraiser at Tarpon Lodge, Sam’s Fans was able to raise over $30,000, McCarthy said.
“We had about 75 people. We served dinner and drinks and had a small silent auction. I invited people from the hospital and music therapists to come and share what we are doing. It was a great night,” McCarthy said.
Many islanders knew Samantha, McCarthy said, since she and her children visited St. James City often, to see her father. After Samantha was diagnosed, the island helped to raise money for Fanconi Anemia research through an event called the Pine Island Rockin’ Roast. The event took place at Froggy’s, McCarthy said.
After Samantha passed away, the family wanted to pursue something meaningful, which then shaped Sam’s Fans.
“We wanted to do something positive that made a great impact on kids — something immediate and gratifying. Music and art therapy was the thing we loved, so we did that. It’s a way that I keep Sam in our lives every day,” McCarthy said.