Northport's The Chloe Belle Foundation Donates $1.5K For Childhood Cancer Patients' Joy

NORTHPORT, NY — Children fighting cancer at three New York City hospitals are about to be brought a lot of joy — some of it warm and furry — thanks to a partnership between The Chloe Belle Foundation and Blue Line Deli.

Huntington's Blue Line Deli raised $4,000 for The Chloe Belle Foundation during a spring event where Islanders memorabilia and other goods were raffled off. The Northport charity sent $500 to each of the Child Life Funds of New York Presbyterian Children Hospital’s - Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital and Komansky Children’s Hospital. It also sent $500 to Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone's animal therapy program, which collaborates with the Good Dog Foundation to coordinate visits.

The donation has no restrictions and will go to any need of the child life teams, which work to provide fun activities for children hospitalized long term, said Remi Lindberg, who founded The Chloe Belle Foundation in memory of her little sister, Chloe.

Each child life team occasionally uses the Dog Therapy Program, which provides animal therapy to inpatient children. Lindberg said dog therapy lifts spirits, lessens depression, alleviates isolation, alienation and loneliness, lowers blood pressure and diminishes physical pain.

The donations were made in memory of Chloe and LeeAnn Rosner, the mother of Blue Line Deli owner Donald Rosner. Chloe was only 26 when she died of acute myeloid leukemia in January 2021. She fought the cancer for 13 months after she was diagnosed at age 25. LeeAnn Rosner died of uterine cancer that spread to her lungs and brain on Aug. 2, 2021. She was a cherished mother and beloved grandmother.

Both Chloe and LeeAnn were huge animal lovers, making the use of funds fitting for the foundation's mission of bringing joy to children and young adults fighting cancer.

"Chloe was an avid believer in the human-animal bond and connection," Lindberg told Patch. "It takes only a second around a sweet, caring and loving animal like a dog to understand how that bond can improve a human's overall wellbeing by increasing happiness, reducing stress and fulfilling our need for emotional support and comfort (just to name a few)."

Chloe worked at the Northport Public Library before her death, and her sister recalls how much Chloe "absolutely adored" the library program where children got to read to dogs.

"It allowed them to feel more calm and confident in their reading skills by reading to these cute, nonjudgmental, wonderful creatures," Lindberg said.

Click here to read a Q&A with The Chloe Belle Foundation.

Lindberg said she learned from Rosner that LeeAnn volunteered at an animal shelter, and that she loved her dog and all animals.

"I knew there was that commonality between [Chloe and LeeAnn] and I immediately thought of the animal therapy programs," Lindberg said.

Lindberg said she got to meet, interact and befriend the employees of the three hospitals from prior The Chloe Belle Foundation events. The foundation donated its 2023 holiday toy drive proceeds to New York Presbyterian Children Hospital’s - Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital and Komansky Children’s Hospital. A couple of years ago, the charity partnered with the New York Avengers to have superhero cosplayers visit Hassenfeld Children's Hospital.

"I saw firsthand how the child life team implements these programs and how much the children in the hospitals get out of these programs/what it does for them," Lindberg said. "The child life team's job is to find ways for the children — the patients — to get the chance to forget about the clinical hospital type life they are living and have fun. They focus on the mental and emotional health of the patients. There are so many incredible hospitals — I chose these hospitals for this specific donation because I did work with them before. I knew they had these programs and the donation would be used to support these programs. But, I am also excited at the thought of working with new hospitals in our future endeavors as well!"

Rosner said he is "super grateful" for meeting Lindberg and getting involved with The Chloe Belle Foundation.

"Weeks [after the collaboration], she is still keeping everything going, putting smiles on people's faces, myself included," Rosner said. "I couldn't be more proud to work with them, and I hope we get the chance to do more. They really put the effort into doing this right, and they work so hard to achieve the most amount of smiles. I love it!"

The foundation's donation to Hassenfeld will support animal therapy visits currently taking place on a regular basis, including four dogs in the inpatient pediatric units across HCH and NYULH; two dogs in the outpatient Fink Children’s Ambulatory Care Center; and one dog in the outpatient Stephen D. Hassenfeld Children’s Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders.

Lindberg thanked Melissa DeCesare, director of development at NYU Langone, for helping the foundation through this process and getting the donation to the right place.

DeCesare sent the foundation a photo of Gaston, a French bulldog and one of the animal therapy pet volunteers.

Lindberg also thanked Chris Dempsey, development officer at New York-Presbyterian, for his help in getting the donations to the best place.

In late April, The Chloe Belle Foundation used a portion of its proceeds from the Blue Line Deli partnership to commission 300 bags of custom-made "Popcorn Drizzle" from The Perfect Cupcake in East Northport. The foundation delivered the treats to Stony Brook University Hospital for Patient Appreciation Week, where bags were handed out to patients undergoing cancer-related treatments at the cancer center, those admitted inpatient on the Bone Marrow Transplant Floor, as well as any person who donated blood or stem cells.

LeeAnn Rosner was known for creating the chocolate-covered popcorn, which she proudly called "Drizzle," Donald Rosner said.

Lindberg also thanked Rosner and everyone who participated in the Blue Line Deli fundraiser by purchasing a raffle ticket or donating an item.

"Thank you for making this happen! We love you guys," she said.