Leighton's Gift & The NICU Family Center

OUR NONPROFIT

Leighton's Gift was founded in 2013 by NICU parents Chris and Amy Skaggs. After the premature birth and NICU admission of their twins, Jaxon and Leighton, they were inspired to give back.

Jaxon came home from the NICU after 74 long days; however, Leighton earned her angel wings three short weeks after birth due to a late-onset group B strep infection.

During their experience, Chris and Amy saw firsthand the need for a better connection between parents and babies in the NICU. This need and the couple's desire to create a lasting legacy for Leighton was the main driving force behind the creation of the nonprofit.

OUR STORY

One night, after Jaxon was home from the NICU, Amy had an uneasy feeling and just needed to see Jaxon. She rolled over to her nightstand, turned on the monitor, and saw Jaxon sleeping peacefully.

That was it! Chris and Amy both questioned why they didn't have this type of technology in the NICU.

Being at the NICU 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, is physically impossible. What if families had a way to connect to their children even when they physically couldn't be present?

OUR IMPACT

The first projects Leighton's Gift tackled included raising funds to purchase and install specially designed and HIPAA-compliant webcams — 45 at Texas Health Plano and 35 at Memorial Hermann The Woodlands. Our story has been shared with many other hospitals, and new donors have been inspired to start and complete their own campaigns.

We're so excited to be partnering again with Texas Health Plano and are in the home stretch of our multi-year fundraising goal to create Leighton's Room in the new NICU Family Center at Texas Health Plano.

When we were in our final hours with Leighton, we were fortunate enough to be in a private room outside the NICU to say our goodbyes. That room, Camp Christopher, was provided by a family that we would later find out had been in our exact same situation. We were inspired by that family's gift and knew we wanted to create a lasting legacy for Leighton.

The NICU Family Center is truly a full-circle moment for Leighton’s Gift — from one room and one family to an entire family center with many rooms and countless families.

THE NICU FAMILY CENTER AT TEXAS HEALTH PLANO

Leaving your newborn, in their most vulnerable condition, with complete strangers is one of the hardest things to do as a NICU parent — this isn’t how it’s supposed to be.

The NICU Family Center at Texas Health Plano will help alleviate this stress and will bless many families. The new family center will help not only families who are visiting the hospital from out of town but also those families with infants who spend several days or months in care, families who are transitioning home and need additional training to care for their babies, and families who need privacy to spend time with their infants requiring end of life care.

Read more about the NICU Family Center and our commitment in Community Impact Magazine.

This is not a small project. The $2.4 million enhancements will add exciting new amenities for NICU families:

• Private, spacious rooms with a hotel-like feel and furnishings to accommodate overnight stays
• Double and triple occupancy rooms to accommodate families of multiples
• A welcome lounge with comfortable seating, refrigerator, coffee bar, and desktop work area
• Washer and dryer facilities
• Special sink designed to accommodate bathing an infant
• Special noise reduction flooring and partitioned area away from main NICU traffic

By donating to Leighton's Gift, you're helping further our mission of turning a tragedy into something positive and impacting the lives of countless NICU families in and around North Texas.