MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The Mountain Loggers Cooperative Association has been making annual Christmas visits to West Virginia University Children’s Hospital for the past decade, and it’s a tradition they intend to continue. This year, they will visit the hospital on Dec. 18.

“I would want someone to care about my grandchild the way I care for the ones that we visit each year,” Ann Glotfelty, association treasurer, said. “It breaks my heart to see them sick, but it is also a great reward when they look at you and give you a thumbs up or smile when you give them a toy.”

Every year, they bring toys and stockings for all the patients at WVU Children’s Hospital. They also leave gifts behind to be given out to patients on Christmas Day.

Glotfelty said every year she hears stories of the children and grandchildren of her friends in Garrett County, Maryland, who are being treated at WVU Children’s Hospital. “I get all excited about giving, and I truly give from my heart,” she said.

“It’s especially difficult for children to have to stay in the hospital around the holidays and miss out on all the parties and activities they normally go to,” Cheryl Jones, R.N., director of WVU Children’s Hospital, said. “We’re so grateful to the Mountain Loggers Cooperative Association for their generosity in helping make the holidays a little brighter for our patients.”

A non-profit group, the Mountain Loggers Cooperative Association is composed of loggers, foresters, sawmills and other forestry-related businesses in West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. The Association has donated $55,000 to WVU Children’s Hospital this year, bringing the total raised since 1996 to more than $1.2 million.

For more information on WVU Children’s Hospital see www.wvukids.com.