Manny,
Manuel Michael
Rodriguez.
August 7, 2008. He has existed in every day since.
This is Manny.
Manuel Michael Rodriguez - Manny - was our much-anticipated first boy. We found out we were expecting in February 2008. The first appointments were routine, hopeful, full of excitement. The ultrasound was the day Sam found out he was finally going to have a son.
What followed were months of irregular ultrasounds and growing concern, leading to an emergency c-section at 30 weeks. Manny came into the world small - four pounds - handsome, and full of the presence only a child can carry into a room.
Due to Manny's medical challenges, we knew our only option was to hold him, love him, and make every moment the best it could be. While Stacey was still under anesthesia, Sam poured everything he had into that room - and into his son.
"In the final moments, when we said 'I love you,' Manny opened his eyes, breathed a deep breath, and joined his Heavenly Father. He only knew love on Earth, and is now in a more perfect love in Heaven."
Manny's Fund exists to keep his name alive - through patient safety advocacy at Akron Children's, through 87 acts of kindness every August 7th, and through a filmed series where other families get to say their child's name out loud too.
His name moves.
Here's how.
Two programs. One mission: keep saying his name - and make room for other families to say theirs.
87 Acts of
Kindness
Every year on August 7 - that's 8/7 - we ask the world to do 87 acts of kindness in Manny's name. The date and the number are the same. That's not a coincidence. That's the whole point.
A Seat at
the Table
A filmed conversation series where bereaved families sit across from Sam and Stacey and introduce the children they carry every single day. Not an interview. Not a documentary. Two families. One table. Your child's name - finally said out loud.
Support the fund at Akron Children's.
The Manuel Michael Rodriguez Patient Safety Education Fund lives at Akron Children's Hospital, where Manny was born. It directly funds the Haslinger Family Pediatric Palliative Care Center - so that families walking this road have support that his family didn't. Every dollar goes there.
Manny's Fund is in the process of becoming a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Contributions made directly through Akron Children's Hospital are tax-deductible through their foundation.
Patient Safety Education Fund
Say his name.
Manuel Michael Rodriguez.