Storybook Ball: Supporting Pediatric Care from A – Z

On October 1, 2022, more than 450 people gathered to celebrate Mass General for Children’s (MGfC) 23^rd annual Storybook Ball at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, raising more than $1.2 million for pediatric care and research at the hospital.

With a whimsical jungle of bright oranges and fuchsias, tropical prints and imaginative letter play, the MFA was transformed into Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, the bestselling children’s story about letters climbing a coconut tree, falling down and being comforted by their parents and other adults. MGfC supporters and event co-chairs Fiona and James Benenson III, of Brookline, Mass., and Rachel and Bill Motley, of Dover, Mass., welcomed guests in black-tie to celebrate the great work of MGfC and enjoy an elegant dinner, carnival games and speaking program.

The theme was inspired by the extraordinary care and expertise of the MGfC Newborn Medicine team, which was the focus of this year’s gala. The evening’s featured patient story brought 2-year-old Carter Mulkerrin and his family to join Allan Goldstein, MD, Surgeon-in-Chief, on stage to reflect on their MGfC journey.

Diagnosed with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia before birth, Carter spent 68 days in the Patty Ribakoff Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Thanks to a lifesaving surgery and family-centered nursing care, Carter overcame the 1 in 3 chance that he would not survive. Today, Carter is a healthy and thriving 2-year-old boy.

Erika Tarantal, an anchor for WCVB Channel 5, led guests through a lively auction, and Ronald E. Kleinman, MD, was honored for his years of service as Physician-in-Chief. It was also announced that Joanne Wolfe, MD, MPH, will succeed Kleinman as chief of the Department of Pediatrics and Physician-in-Chief of MGfC in January 2023.