By Kevin Coughlin
When you’re five years old, only a few memories make a lasting impression.
Charlie Lia remembers his doctor, a harrowing week in the hospital… and the sick kids who were not lucky enough to go home when he did.
To honor them all, Lia, now a senior at Morristown High School, started Wesley’s Toy Box. The holiday toy drive benefits the pediatric center at St. Barnabas Medical Center, the Livingston hospital that saved him when he had a life-threatening bout of pneumonia.
Lia named the program for his pediatrician, Dr. Wesley Boodish, who passed away in 2014.
“What I remember most about Dr. Boodish is his sense of humor. He would always make my mom and I laugh at every check-up and visit. I felt that I could talk to him about anything. He always set a great example for all of his patients and was a great mentor to me,” said Lia, a member of the MHS swim team.
This is his third toy drive.
“I had always wanted to give back to the hospital that made me well again, and I remembered the sick kids that were there who were less fortunate than I was,” Lia recounted.
After Dr. Boodish’s death, Lia began brainstorming ways to honor him.
“My mom placed a call to Saint Barnabas to see if there was something that they needed for their pediatric unit. They were in great need of toys,” for children in the hospital and for kids visiting regularly as outpatients.
New, unwrapped toys or books for ages infant through teens can be dropped off until Dec. 22, 2016, at Morristown High School (50 Early St., attention: Key Club), Millburn Pediatrics (159 Millburn Ave., Millburn) and Morgan Stanley (first floor, 10 Madison Ave., Morristown).
To arrange a toy pickup, contact Lia.
Fully recovered from his childhood pneumonia, Lia in the MHS Key Club and STEM Academy, and has been inducted into the National Honor Society and the National Italian Honor Society.
His sights are set on college and, not surprisingly, a career in medical research.
