Santa to Bring Gifts and Joy of the Season

Philadelphia (December 2002)— Magee Rehabilitation Hospital will again brighten the season for its patients and their families with a festive Holiday Party. The Holiday Party for Patients, a long-held tradition at Magee, will take place on Sunday, December 22, from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Hospital, located at 16th and Races Streets in center-city Philadelphia .

Festivities will feature all the sights, sounds and merriment of the season. There will be Mummers, catered foods, holiday treats and—of course, a visit from Santa who will arrive with gifts and giveaways for patients and their guests.

This will be the sixth consecutive year that the party is sponsored by Mark Chilutti and his family.  Chilutti, the Hospital’s Director of Major Gifts, was a patient at Magee during the holiday season of 1996.

He had been shot by robbers of a jewelry store he owned, and was left a paraplegic, making his hospital stay during the holidays especially challenging. Since then, he and his family have had a special empathy with patients in the same circumstances. 

“Being in a hospital during the holidays is very difficult and challenging,” Chilutti said. “At Magee, there are usually about 90 patients, working to regain their independence, often after a life-changing illness or injury. We want to make certain all the patients and their families have cards and gifts to open, and to have a special party of their own as they celebrate the season together.”