The Nebraska Medical Center will become the first medical center in Omaha to participate in Lollipop Theater.
The national program (www.lollipoptheater.org) brings current children’s movies into hospitals so young patients, who otherwise can’t go to a regular movie theater, can see the films.
The University Hospital Auxiliary provided funding to The Nebraska Medical Center to make the screening possible. Private bedside showings for pediatric patients are scheduled today for 10 a.m. Wednesday. Children who are able to leave their rooms will find Private Dining Room C transformed into a mini-theater for the 1 p.m. showing of “Over The Hedge,” the animated tale of a scheming raccoon who enlists a family of forest creatures to invade suburbia to help him repay a debt of food. Families staying at the Ronald McDonald House and Nebraska House also are invited to the showing.
Founded in 2001, Lollipop Theater Network is a not-for-profit foundation dedicated to bringing the magic of movies, currently in theatrical release, to children confined to hospitals nationwide due to chronic and life-threatening illnesses. The program, based out of New York, currently is in 13 states, 20 cities and 34 hospitals.