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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; The string of beads around Dave Palermo&#8217;s neck are mainly for show.</p><p>They&#8217;re there to let others know about the &#8220;<a href="http://www.beadsofcourage.org/" target="_blank">Beads</a><a href="http://www.beadsofcourage.org/" target="_blank"> of </a><a href="http://www.beadsofcourage.org/" target="_blank">Courage</a>&#8221; program his family&#8217;s foundation promotes to help children deal with their serious and chronic illnesses. The beads are given to hospitalized children to mark the daily events in their treatment and recovery.</p><p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t earn these,&#8221; Palermo admitted.</p><p>Patients at Geisinger Janet Weis Children&#8217;s Hospital in Danville and four other children&#8217;s hospitals in Pennsylvania will &#8212; for each injection, transfusion or chemotherapy session. Different colors denote different procedures, but they&#8217;re linked by the joy they bring and the affirmation of strength and resilience of the recipients who range from infants to teenagers.</p><p>The benefits extend to the providers, Palermo said. &#8220;They take a lot away from that,&#8221; he said.</p><p>The Palermo Heart-to-Heart Foundation, which is based in the Hazleton area, has raised tens of thousands of dollars for individuals and organizations over more than 25 years of charitable work.</p><p>For the fourth year in a row, area first responders are supporting the <a href="https://www.palermo-foundation.org/" target="_blank">Palermo Heart-to-Heart Badges &amp; Boots campaign</a>. The Wilkes-Barre and Hazleton fire departments joined Palermo Wednesday to begin a fundraiser for the foundation&#8217;s continued participation in the program.</p><p>&#8220;We just would like to have more first responders involved,&#8221; Wilkes-Barre firefighter Tom Heffers said.</p><p>Heffers has worn beads in the past and will do so again this year, attaching them by a safety pin to his turnout coat. He&#8217;ll keep one bead and send the other one with a note of encouragement to a child.</p><p>Firefighters and police have traveled to Janet Weis Children&#8217;s Hospital to meet with the patients who&#8217;ve received beads, Palermo said.</p><p>&#8220;During the visit with first responders the children get to escape the reality of their illnesses and interact with community heroes, the same heroes the children themselves dream of being one day,&#8221; Palermo said.</p><p>The fundraiser will help the foundation reach more children at the four other hospitals: Lehigh Valley, Penn State Children&#8217;s Hospital Hershey, The Children&#8217;s Home &amp; Lemieux Family Center in Pittsburgh and UPMC Children&#8217;s Hospital of Pittsburgh.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">These beads were placed on a firefighter&#8217;s coat as part of the &#8216;Beads of Courage&#8217; program designed to help children deal with serious and chronic illnesses. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_TTL120418beads2-2.jpg</photo0><caption0>These beads were placed on a firefighter&#8217;s coat as part of the &#8216;Beads of Courage&#8217; program designed to help children deal with serious and chronic illnesses. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_TTL120418beads1-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Eric Serafin, Kevin Voelker and Chris Harbrack, firefighters with the City of Wilkes-Barre, choose beads for the Badges &amp; Boots campaign kickoff for the Palermo Heart-to-Heart Foundation.  </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_TTL120418beads1-2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Eric Serafin, Kevin Voelker and Chris Harbrack, firefighters with the City of Wilkes-Barre, choose beads for the Badges &amp; Boots campaign kickoff for the Palermo Heart-to-Heart Foundation.  </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jerry Lynott</p><p>jlynott@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Little beads, big results for seriously ill children