Saturday night was Frankie Benjamin’s night to shine.  

“Frankie is a special needs little boy,” his mother Chanda explains. “He is not mobile, non-verbal.”

Frankie, who’s seven years old from Pine City, has cerebral palsy, a congenital muscle disorder.

He and his family were in Brooklyn Park to support Crescent Cove, Minnesota’s only pediatric hospice and respite home and one of only three in the entire country.

“They are very incredible caregivers, very high-caliber care Frankie gets there. It’s just a very unique place,” Chanda explains. “Like when we enter the driveway, he starts getting animated and vocalizing, and he knows that’s where he’s going.”

On Saturday, Frankie was celebrated as a fundraising campaign ambassador at Morrie’s Brooklyn Park Subaru.

The ‘Share the Love’ event runs from Nov. 21 through Jan. 2. 

“As Minnesotans, as human beings, we should take this as a life lesson and say, let’s help,” declares Sales Manager Tina Ingalls. “It has touched my heart. This one is different. This one involves children. This one involves hospice.”

For each vehicle sold, the dealership donates $325 to Crescent Cove.

The dealership also plans to donate $5 from each of the 40 to 80 car repairs done each day.

The goal is to raise $50,000.

It’s the third year the dealership shared profits to help Cresent Cove.

“So, we’re grateful for this partnership, and I’m really excited to be here,” says Executive Director Mary Gaasch. “We can care for five children at a time, but the need is so great that if we had 72 beds around the Twin Cities, we could fill them all, actually.”

The nonprofit’s Brooklyn Center facility fulfills two vital needs.

First, providing 24/7 nursing care for special needs children with a shortened life expectancy.

Kids can stay from one to seven overnights at a time throughout the year at no cost.  

“The goal is to make every moment count. It’s all about celebrating the time that we have with them and hope to fill their lives with joy,” Gaasch explains. “So, we bring in music therapists, and we have pet therapists, we even have a therapy duck that comes to visit. We have rescue horses; the firefighters stop by.”

There’s also respite care for the parents.

Families are offered 15 days and nights a year to take a break.

“It’s an opportunity for families to take a step back; maybe go home and take a nap,” Gaasch says. “Maybe catch up on their laundry and go on a trip.”

Meanwhile, the children get a chance to have some fun.

“Each visit, he gets to come home with some type of a craft that’s personal to him,” Chanda says about Frankie. “Like his fingerprint or his handprint was used to make it.”

Crescent Cove says it’s helped more than 450 families since opening in 2018.

The nonprofit is now considering opening a second location.

“I never have been part of a medical background,” Ingalls adds. “And I never realized there were that many children that needed assistance doing everything, from even playing to eating.”

For Frankie and his family, all of this is making a difference. “It’s heartwarming, it’s just amazing what they do,” Chanda says. “It’s all about experience. That’s what I want to bring to Frankie’s life.”