Courtesy Photo Rob Stafford and his son, Theo, are pictured showing the $100 that Theo donated to the Inpatient Rehabilitation COVID+ Prehabilitation Program at MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena.

ALPENA — COVID-19 inpatients at MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena are benefitting from the philanthropy of a local 10-year-old.

Theo Stafford, a fourth-grade student at Besser Elementary, has chosen the MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena Inpatient Rehabilitation COVID+ Prehabilitation Program as the recipient of his latest donation. Stafford donated $100 which will be used for program tools and activity items that help to speed up the recovery of the Medical Center’s COVID-19 inpatients.

According to Ann Cosbitt, R.N., inpatient rehab program director at MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena, “The COVID+ program focuses on early assessment, early mobility, patient routines and autotomy, and trauma prevention of COVID positive patients. It is an intervention-based program to improve outcomes and function of patients so they can safely transition to their next site of care.”

“COVID patients have a lot of bad stuff happen to them,” said Stafford. “My dad, who works at the hospital, is teaching me that his patients need all kinds of things so they can get out of the hospital and get home faster.”

Items used in the prehabilitation program, such as puzzles, coloring books, cards and dice, are used with COVID-19 inpatients and ordered as soon as possible to ensure effective physical and occupational therapy. These tools assist therapists with measuring a patient’s cognitive ability, thereby helping the patient advance to the next site of care. Therapists are finding that this program is helping to decrease the length of stay for COVID-19 patients because the patients are getting to rehab quicker which means they get home quicker.

Leslie Hanson, occupational therapist supervisor, said, “The therapy team provides high-quality care for COVID positive patients. The therapists are energized and inspired by the COVID+ Prehab Program and are already seeing the impact they are making for our patients’ recovery. The program ensures therapy is ordered as soon as possible and adds the option for a gym area to allow COVID positive patients to leave their rooms.”

“I’ve been giving to different places for about four years,” continued Stafford, who has donated approximately $800 to local charities and across the globe. “I’ve donated to the Huron Humane Society, Habitat Restore, All-Saints School and Alpena Gymnastics. I’ve also donated mosquito nets to people in Africa, so I give to places all over the world.”

Theo is the son of Rob and Leah Stafford of Alpena. Theo’s father is a therapist at MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena. His parents have been teaching Theo to be good with money from an early age. They use appropriate principals from Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace Jr., which is designed to give parents the tools they need to raise money-smart kids.

Theo’s parents shared, “We teach Theo, that, at his age, 50 percent of the money he earns goes to spending, 25 percent goes to giving, and 25 percent goes to saving. He makes money by doing chores around the house and can earn extra money, too. If he finds coupons for food we would normally buy, he gets to keep that money, too.”

The young Stafford concluded, “My dad matches 50 percent of the money I give. So, if I save up and give $50, he gives $50, and that totals $100 to help people that need it. It feels good to give.”

Theo also has a younger brother named William and a cat named Fitz.

To learn more about the COVID+ Prehabilitation Program, contact Cosbitt at 989-356-8048 or ann.cosbitt@mymichigan.org.