Little Giraffe Foundation

Since our inception, the Little Giraffe Foundation has raised $100,000 and formed partnerships with key organizations, like Barnes & Noble and More Than Milk, to collect children's books and support fundraising and awareness efforts.  With the money that has been raised, we have been able to offer regular support to 10 Chicagoland hospitals (Advocate Good Samaritan, Advocate Lutheran General, Advocate Hope, Central DuPage Hospital, Comer's Children's Hospital, Edward Hospital, Evanston Hospital, Rush-Copley Medical Center, Rush University Medical Center & St. Alexius Medical Center).  

We have reached thousands of families by way of holiday gift bags filled with books and toys.  When an infant is in an incubator and too sick for a parent to hold, reading a book to the child may be the only way for the parent to connect.  A toy may remind parents that there is hope for tomorow and that they have not been forgotten.

In addition, over the past 3 years, the Little Giraffe Founation has awarded over $54,000 in Neonatal Research and NICU Support Grants to hospitals and organizations across the country.  These grants are making a difference, and we will continue offering annual grants to deserving researchers and NICUs.

We need your help to keep providing this support.

The Little Giraffe Foundation was formed in March 2011 by Mike and Amanda Santoro to honor their daughter Cheyenne Elise.  Cheyenne was born 3 1/2 months premature, weighing 1 pound 4 ounces, and lived only a short 6 weeks.  After this devastating loss, Mike & Amanda wanted to do something to help other families of prematurely born children while doing a mountain of good their daughter could no longer do herself.  The Little Giraffe Foundation is dedicated to funding neonatal research and supporting NICU families.