CAMPBELL, Calif-- Each year, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, located in Palo Alto, California, hosts “Light the Night,” a celebration that kicks off the holiday season for its patients and their families. This year’s celebration took place at the hospital on Wednesday, November 28th from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. where one patient continued the long-standing tradition of turning on the holiday lights adorning the hospital. Over 100 children and their families were invited to participate in an evening of entertainment, holiday craft-making and tasty hors d’oeuvres, donated by the Professional Culinary Institute (PCI) of Campbell, California.
 
“The holidays are a difficult time of year for these children and their families to be in the hospital,” says Richard Battista, president of PCI. “Our goal is to make it a little brighter for them. When we learned of the opportunity to participate in “Light the Night”, we jumped at the chance. Supporting these courageous families and providing holiday cheer is part of the PCI team’s commitment to our community.”
 
PCI donated a variety of culinary delights for the event, which included: imported and local cheeses, a selection of fresh fruit, vegetable crudite with ranch dressing, tomatoes and fresh mozzarella, a display of Italian deli meats, mini peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, holiday cookies, brownies, rice crispy treats, and popcorn balls.
 
“Light the Night” has brought holiday cheer to thousands of families for more than 10 years. Together, patients and their families are able to focus their attention on celebrating the coming season, making new memories that will last a lifetime. “Light the Night” offered children the opportunity to participate in ornament decorating and creating winter-themed art pieces. Entertainment included holiday music favorites by the Mendicants, Stanford University Men’s Choral group, and “Wiley,” the children’s entertainment musician. Additionally, the San Francisco Giants mascot, Lou Seal, and the San Francisco 49ers mascot, Sourdough Sam, made an appearance to entertain the kids, providing a pleasant and memorable experience for everyone.
 
With over 650 physicians and 4,750 staff and volunteers, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital is a world-class, non-profit hospital devoted entirely to the care of babies, children, adolescents, and expectant mothers. As an academic medical center on the Stanford University campus, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital benefits from a faculty and staff that is recognized as much for their achievements as for their commitment to care.
 
The PCI campus, in the heart of the Silicon Valley, offers four professional programs that can be completed in a convenient full or part-time curriculum. Providing students with the opportunity to turn their passion into their profession, PCI offers small class sizes, world-renowned instructors, state-of-the-art facilities, paid externships, and unparalleled job placement assistance.
 
About the Professional Culinary Institute
Founded by Chef Richard Battista in 2005, the Professional Culinary Institute (PCI) is a premier chef-owned culinary school located in the heart of the Silicon Valley in Campbell, California. Offering full- and part-time programs in culinary arts, baking and pastry arts, a certified sommelier program, and a hospitality management program, PCI offers small class sizes, renowned instructors, state-of-the-art equipment and facility, a required paid externship and an Artisense method of teaching that is unique to PCI. Degrees and diplomas offered at PCI include: Diploma of Essential Professional Culinary Skills, Diploma of Essential Professional Baking and Pastry Skills, Certified Sommelier, and Associates of Occupational Science in Hospitality Management. To learn more about PCI, visit www.pcichef.com or call toll free, 1-888-PCI-LEARN.

About Lucile Packard Children's Hospital
Ranked as one of the nation's top 10 pediatric hospitals by U.S. News & World Report, Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford is a 264-bed hospital devoted to the care of children and expectant mothers. Providing pediatric and obstetric medical and surgical services and associated with the Stanford University School of Medicine, Packard Children's offers patients locally, regionally and nationally the full range of health care programs and services - from preventive and routine care to the diagnosis and treatment of serious illness and injury. For more information, visit http://www.lpch.org.