McCluski and Pasley Families' Open Letter to Community

Since 2001, the Rainbow Classic Pittsford Mendon-Sutherland basketball games have been played in memory of Katelyn Pasley and Ryan McCluski to raise funds for the Golisano Children’s Hospital. The tradition began as an idea of student athletes Lindsay Bartholf and Shannon Martin, their parents, and Coach Todd Julien. With the help of countless other Pittsford students, parents, and faculty, it blossomed into an annual community and school-wide project which honors the memory of the two former Pittsford students. The event serves as a fundraiser for projects at Golisano Children's Hospital which strive to enhance and ease the hospital stay for children and their families.

Through the efforts of Pittsford cheerleaders, players, and their families, and thanks to the philanthropy of individual donors and advertisers, the Rainbow Classic raises over $25,000 annually for Golisano Children's Hospital. Each year, the funds target and benefit a particular program and have contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to these projects.

• In the early years, the money was spent on "Katie's Computers." Laptop computers were purchased for pediatric patients' rooms to help facilitate communication with friends and family.
  
  
• In subsequent years, this project evolved into the "Get Well Network," an interactive web-based system broadcast on monitors in pediatric rooms, allowing access to the internet, educational, communication, and entertainment programs.  In 2010, 20 flat- screen, HDTV monitors were added to the adolescent unit. This program is still in use today in an updated version.
  
  
• Proceeds from five Rainbow Classics helped fund the construction of a patient room in the Pediatric Intensive Care unit. A plaque honoring the memory of Katelyn and Ryan, and crediting the generosity of the Pittsford community and organizers and sponsors of the Rainbow Classic, hangs in the new hospital pediatric intensive care unit.
  
  
• Funds raised in 2011 and 2012 helped support the Child and Adolescent Eating Disorders program at Golisano Children's Hospital.
  
  
• A three-year commitment beginning in 2013 helped outfit the Teen Lounge in the new children's hospital with comfortable furnishings, game consoles, and computer stations. Artwork created by Pittsford high school students decorates the walls.
  
  
• Currently, the Rainbow Classic has a three-year plan to support the Pediatric Palliative Care unit in its mission to support children and families with serious illness. Funds will help expand staff and programs to provide comprehensive care relieving physical, emotional, social, and spiritual suffering.

Dr. David Korones, the founding director of the Pediatric Palliative Care program describes its purpose as one of comfort, "of looking beyond monitors, scans, blood tests, and medication, and sitting down and listening to a child and family. It is about giving a hand to hold, a shoulder to lean on, and in this way making a child feel better.” The program facilitates the delivery of cutting edge care with heart and compassion.

It is with these thoughts in mind that the direction of the Rainbow Classic moves forward. The continued commitment of the Pittsford community and schools, and the University of Rochester which donates its Palestra facility for the basketball game each year, keeps the Rainbow Classic alive and vibrant. As the scope of the event grows and changes to meet current needs of hospitalized children, its core message of compassion and hope remains the same. Its tradition of giving would not be possible without the army of workers and the spirit of enthusiasm generated each year, and the Pasley and McCluski families thank you.