Donor Insight

For Ralph Pelikan, one visit to OZ made all the difference. “Seeing the children react to one another, have fun, and laugh the way that kids should, despite being in the hospital,” says Ralph, convinced him that it was important for there to be a permanent space for the program. In addition to supporting that effort, when he learned that the furniture was not meeting the patients’ needs, Ralph and his son-in-law, Tom Judkins, asked if they could use their engineering and wood-working talents to create a one-of-a-kind changing table for use in OZ. The goal of OZ is to make sure that each patient gets opportunities to play, engage in early learning activities, practice communicating, and most importantly, to make friends. The staff need equipment to make the OZ space feel like a typical preschool setting, helping the children prepare for life after Ranken Jordan. You can join Ralph and help us make a permanent home for OZ by visiting rankenfoundation.org/donate.org to learn more.