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Carry On Shop

Thrilling COS purchase leads to …

Among the many delightful, loyal shoppers at the Carry On Shop is Dr. Edward McFarland.   On his latest shopping expedition, the renowned orthopaedic surgeon bought a special gift for his wife.  That was only after quickly exploring every detail of the Shop. Purchase complete, he was thrilled to find the mahogany armchair, a spot for a quick, comfortable rest before heading back to his busy day. In Dr. McFarland’s words, “I buy everything at the Carry On Shop,” clearly helping the Women’s Board fulfill its mission, to advance patient care at Johns Hopkins.  Every purchase makes a difference!

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News

Carry On Shop – Tale of the Wedding Glasses

In 1979, a young student in his first year at the Medical School visited the Carry On Shop. While there he purchased two etched crystal glasses for $2.00 each for himself and his fiancée – a grand total of $4.00 for a very special pair of goblets. On June 7, 1980, Marie and John toasted with the glasses at their wedding. On June 7, 2023, they clicked the glasses again to
celebrate their 43rd wedding anniversary. Photographs below of Marie and John in 1980 and in 2023.

Cheers and congratulation!

    Categories
    Grants Awarded

    Funding to Burn Unit

    Ultraviolet Light (UVL) has been shown to kill dangerous bacteria which frequently cause infections in burn unit patients including Staphylococcus aureus (staph), Pseudomonas, and Clostridium difficile spores. In 2017, the Women’s Board purchased one of these UVLs for The Johns Hopkins Burn Center at Bayview, the only adult burn center in Maryland verified by the American Burn Association, to be used for the potential improvement of infection rates in burn patients.

    This six-foot tall robotic-looking device can reduce bacteria in patients’ rooms in merely five minutes. (View video.) While patients are out of their rooms daily cleaning with the UVL device easily and quickly helps prevent medically significant illness. With 20 patient beds at full capacity in the Burn Unit, this keeps our robotic friend busy!

    The UVL bought by The Women’s Board for the Burn Center is one of several modalities used to decrease infection rates in burn patients. Its use correlated with a huge reduction in blood infection rates of patients, which was their biggest problem. Healing and grafted skin infections are also a concern for burn patients. Reducing infection rates with UVL can lead to faster healing, faster skin grafting, faster discharge to rehabilitation, and consequently decreased costs.

    The immense success of the UVL device in the Burn Center started a trend at Bayview to purchase more of these lights for other areas of the hospital where infections can also be problematic, such as the Intensive Care Units and inpatient floors. When patients have less infections, they require less antibiotics, and healing and discharge from the hospital can occur faster. One UVL purchase by The Women’s Board led to a revelation in patient care that has multiplied its beneficial effect throughout Bayview hospital.  

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    Carry On Shop

    Cocktails for a Cause

    The May issue of Guilford Stroll features Cocktails for a Cause, an event to
    encourage donations for the Carry On Shop. The COS team hosted Guilford neighbors in March for a night out, showcasing the shop and the impact high-quality donations has on its success. The beautiful photography of the article includes many smiling faces familiar to the Women’s Board. The Everhart Veterinary Medicine ambulance, on hand to collect contributions, was background for several fun pictures as it was filled with contributions. Thanks were given to sponsors Everhart Veterinary Medicine, JTC Jewelry Design and Maryland Eye and Face.

    Cocktails for a Cause draws on the important theme of Resale for a Cause,
    highlighting the importance of community support and donations to the Women’s Board fund raising efforts on behalf of Johns Hopkins. The Carry On Team and the Women’s Board are grateful to Stroll Guilford for the continuing coverage. This includes complimentary ads and now six articles!

    Categories
    Carry On Shop Renewal

    WYPR and Sustainable Fashion

    On WYPR, Midday with Tom Hall, Joan Quinn and Susan Posner did a fantastic job of promoting sustainable fashion and the Carry On Shop and Renewal Upscale Resale.   Click here to listen what they had to say, and hear the words of a woman who called in.  A dedicated “thrifter” who praised hospital resale shops as being the best for great finds, excellent prices, and clean, welcoming environments.  When Tom asked Joan and Susan what they wished for the shops — a steady stream of generous donors and new and returning shoppers!

    Categories
    Events

    Dreams of the Golf Classic Team 2023

    Monday, May 8 dawns a gorgeous day with blue skies and perfect temperature for golf.  The full complement of 100 golfers are ready for a great round of play on the beautiful course of the Greenspring Valley Hunt Club.  Women’s Board volunteers are in place, greeting and organizing. The continually growing 50-50 raffle kitty is approaching $12,000.  The golfers must feel a bit unlucky because they are buying as many mulligans as possible.  Those feeling lucky are looking forward to winning the silent auction golf get away! This adds up to a successful day to add to the over $2 million the Golf Classic has contributed to Johns Hopkins through the years! 

    Categories
    Carry On Shop News Renewal

    Sustainability

    At noon on Thursday, April 20, on WYPR, Tom Hall is doing an interview with Susan Posner and Joan Quinn about the contributions the Carry On Shop and Renewal Upscale Resale make to sustainability. Earth Day, April 22, brings protecting our planet to the forefront, and the Women’s Board has been helping through resale for almost 100 years. We’ve been recycling the closets of loyal and new donors and shoppers for a long time! Tune in!!

    Carry On Shop and Renewal Upscale Resale remind Board members and
    sustainers that donations of quality items from family, friends, and their own closets are essential to their success. Closets are being cleaned, people are moving, their lives are changing, please reach out and remind them the Women’s Board will offer their treasures a new life, and they will be supporting the mission of the Board to advance patient care and provide medical and nursing scholarships at Johns Hopkins. Be in touch with the shops for pick up as needed.

    Categories
    Carry On Shop

    COS Customer

    As April is upon us, Guilford Stroll is featuring  the Carry On Shop in the fourth of a wonderful series of articles on the Women’s Board.  Nathan Diennes, of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine Development Office, recounts his fun and finds as he spends time at the shop– the thrill of the hunt amid the varied, ever changing merchandise; the joy of a special find as well as a great deal;  the delight of meeting the volunteer team, John the manager, and of course the loyal customers.  The stories of these customers are part of the spirit of the shop.  They include students new to Johns Hopkins “thrift shopping” for furnishings and wall art, employees and staff of the medical campus browsing during a needed break, faithful followers checking in to see what’s new, lovers of vintage clothing, along with people who use the store and visits with John and the team as a chance to find affordable things, experience caring and kindness.

    Categories
    Carry On Shop Renewal

    Kathy’s passion for vintage clothing

    Kathy Abbott has been a proud member of the Women’s Board since 2011.  It all started in 2009, when Pam Hindsley, then Best Dressed Sale chair, wisely asked her to help with Vintage Clothing donations.  As Kathy’s most recent education had been in Costume History and Design, she was thrilled to accept because of her passion for vintage clothing and because of the worthwhile cause of contributing to benefit patient care at The Johns Hopkins Hospital.

    After volunteering for the board for several years and finishing a second degree in Theatre, Design and Production at Towson University, she became a member ready to dedicate her newly found free time to the Women’s Board. Kathy has continued to oversee Vintage, at first at the Best Dressed Sale, then at the shop at Kenilworth Mall, now  at Renewal and at the Carry On Shop. In addition to co chairing the Carry On Shop, she has helped with Great Taste events, the Golf Classic, and any number of other committees needing volunteers.

    Kathy’s favorite committee has been Hospital Relations (now Grants and Awards), thus being part of the review of grants submitted by various departments and of the decision as to how to allocate the funds the board has worked so hard to raise.  For Kathy, a personal benefit of being a board member has been the number of wonderful women she has had the opportunity to meet, and the friendships that have evolved when she thought all her friendships already had been made!

    Categories
    News

    Treating Spasmodic Dysphonia

    A few years ago Marge (not her real name) was having lunch with her daughter and grandson when she noticed that her voice sounded different.  She told her daughter that she felt as though her voice was “catching” in her throat.  At an annual doctor’s appointment a few weeks later she mentioned it to her physician who recommended that she see a specialist.  Eventually Marge was diagnosed with Spasmodic dysphonia (SD) a neurologic voice disorder that causes spasms in the muscles of the larynx, or voice box.

    SD affects adults of all ages with patients often complaining of their voices catching in their throat, interrupting the fluency of speech. These spasms can be quite debilitating, but they can be temporarily treated by injecting Botox into the voice box muscles, weakening them enough so the spasms do not continue. To ensure these injections reach the correct location at the correct dosage so as to give relief for the longest possible time, an Electromyography (EMG) machine is connected to the injection needle. This allows otolaryngologists who treat SD with Botox to see muscle activity on a monitor and confirm the needle is in the right place to inject. Patients like Marge may need this treatment on average every three months depending on their preferences and the medication’s effect. 

    In 2017, The Women’s Board bequeathed a grant to the Otolaryngology Clinic at Johns Hopkins to purchase the EMG machine they currently use. This equipment supports this more precise and safer option to treat the 100 plus patients annually who require these repetitive injections, giving them the ability to communicate effectively in a stronger and more fluid voice. This machine also has uses in patients with Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor in cases where these illnesses affect the voice.

    Interview with Dr. Lee M. Akst