Local high school, teacher donate to Saint Francis NICU families

Sikeston, Mo., High School teacher Brandie Maddox and her students recently donated short- and long-term items for families with infants in Saint Francis Medical Center's Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The gifts included toiletries, 20 handmade blankets, infant socks, snacks and other items useful to NICU families. Maddox's son, Mason, was a patient in the NICU, and she and her students wanted to help other families in the same situation. Maddox says the students started working on the gifts in November, spending one day a week on them. In December, they worked two days a week at school and some even worked on the blankets at home. The total value of the donation was more than $500. Pictured from left are Alexis Novak, Samantha Anderson, Mason Maddox, Brandie Maddox, Abygail Sparkman and Crystal Roseman.