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Today’s Around Atlanta guest on Atlanta Real Estate Forum Radio is Abby Wexler, program coordinator with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and the Children’s Christmas Parade. Held Saturday, Dec. 5 in Midtown, there are still bleacher seat tickets available so you can be front and center during this exciting event!
Celebrating its 35th year in Atlanta, the Children’s Christmas Parade kicks off at 16th and Peachtree streets and continues down Peachtree to 5th Street. The parade will feature all sorts of performances and events, including high-flying helium balloons, Thomas the Train, elves, the first-ever Monopoly Man, llamas, bands from all over Atlanta, Star Wars’ Storm Troopers and much more. And of course, no parade is complete without a visit from Santa himself!
For those spectators that would like to be in the center of the action, there are still bleacher tickets available that can be purchased for $18 each. The bleachers will be set up on Peachtree Street between 11th and 12th an street, which is the live TV broadcast zone. This means that all of the fun events and performances that occur during the parade will take place right in front! Tickets can be purchased online at www.CHOA.org/parade.
Families can set up anywhere else along the parade route for free, and for those who can’t make it out, the live broadcast can be viewed on WSBTV/ABC Channel 2 from 10:30 a.m. until noon.
The Children’s Christmas Parade is a charity event, with money from the sponsorships and bleacher ticket sales going to CHOA. Each year, the parade selects an area of the hospital that needs funding, and this year’s recipient of parade funds is Family Support Services. This division treats the patient through whole child care, including spiritual, emotional and mental care. Some of the employees included in this division are librarians; chaplains, who are at the hospital 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to meet with families and patients; Child Life Specialists, who engage with patients in play therapy to help make them more comfortable in the hospital; and 11 therapy dogs. These services are extremely important to patients and their families, especially those who are at CHOA for months at a time.
One of the largest pediatric facilities in the country, CHOA sees an average of 360,000 patients per year, and it is now celebrating 100 years in Atlanta. A non-profit organization, 55 percent of CHOA’s patients are on government reimbursed healthcare, and many have no insurance at all. Because of this, CHOA incurs about $97 million per year in unreimbursed medical care. For those who can’t attend the parade but would like to give, visit www.CHOA.org/give.
For more information on the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta parade, visit www.CHOA.org/parade. To learn more about the care offered and children treated at CHOA, visit www.CHOA.org or visit the Facebook page.
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The “Around Atlanta” segment is designed to showcase the best of metro Atlanta – the communities, attractions and special events that make this city great. To submit your event, community or attraction to the Around Atlanta edition of Atlanta Real Estate Forum Radio, contact 770-383-3360.
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