Cause #11 – Shriners Hospital for Children
Event Date: December 5, 2010

The Shriners Hospital for Children is truly a blessing. They are “a health care system of 22 hospitals dedicated to improving the lives of children by providing pediatric specialty care, innovative research, and outstanding teaching programs for medical professionals.

Children up to age 18 with orthopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate are eligible for care and receive all services in a family-centered environment, regardless of the patients’ ability to pay.”

That’s correct. They take in children of all ages – at no pay. Their Sacramento hospital is truly a majestic site. Simply put, it’s seven levels of aweseomeness. State of the art equipment, caring employees and volunteers, a lot of love.

All this combined to make it an easy choice to volunteer with The Shriners Hospital for Children again this year. Last year’s volunteer opportunity was so memorable, I had to offer the opportunity up for others to share with me.

On this morning, I arrived and volunteer coordinator Lillian Nelson was addressing the large group of volunteers who had accumulated in the multi-purpose room.

There were volunteer groups present from a variety of organizations. I introduced myself to the volunteers here today because of 20 Causes, 20 Days: Tenisha, Leah, Cynthia, Meghan, Mika, and Ryan. All us volunteers were working together for one common cause: to decorate all seven floors for Christmas.

It was a cool opportunity to do something that would brighten the days of many children.

After putting together an artificial tree on the 5^th floor and leaving it undecorated for an elderly couple that decorates it every year, we found ourselves back down in the multi-purpose room.

Lillian gave us a tree to put up and decorate in the main lobby, right next to the sliding glass door. This tree would be one of the very first things everyone who comes into the hospital would see.

I think everyone realized this, because we came together as a great team to decorate one of the most beautiful trees I’ve ever seen. (Of course I’m a little biased, but this really was a gorgeous tree.)

The compliments from almost everyone who walked by let us know that it was a beautiful tree. The thing that made it so noticeable was the white and blue LED lights we put under the tree, inside of the train track loop to mimic snow. Thanks to Meghan for that idea!

We finished the tree and took a step back to look at it. There was a sense of fulfillment among us, and we all basked in that feeling of knowing that we came together to create something that would bring a smile to the faces of many – especially to people who could use a smile.

But that glory was short-lived, as we had more tasks to tackle.

We grabbed a couple more trees and headed up to the 6^th floor. We put together two mini-trees and decorated them both. I dubbed one a “police theme” because of the blue lights and red ornaments. The other tree had a more classic feel, with tan ribbons and white lights. Once again our team created something beautiful, and shared some laughs in the process.

After we finished those trees, Lillian took about 20 of the volunteers on a tour of the hospital. We went into the orthopedic and prosthetic wing, then headed past the gym and into the school.

It was when we passed the gym that everything kind of sunk in as to what Shriners really does. There was one child in there, a burn victim, who was rehabilitating with physical therapy. An adult was helping this child, and the child was struggling with one of the exercise bikes.

A simple task that we might take for granted. Somehow, this poor child had experienced some kind of traumatic experience which made it exponentially difficult. I took an extra second to mull this over, and I felt myself getting a bit choked up.

This scene gave me a newly discovered sense of respect for the people who work and volunteer at Shriners on a regular basis. People are thrown crazy adversity in their lives, and character is developed by dealing with that adversity.

The kids who come through Shriners are stronger than most of us. Lillian said that as part of their schooling while in the hospital, they are still encouraged to focus on their dreams. Many of the children draw out their dreams and do not lose faith that they can still become astronauts, firefighters, teachers, or athletes.

It was truly an inspirational moment. When we complain and stress about remedial things, we tend to forget that there are many people out there who have it way worse than we do. The children who come through Shriners manage to exceed the odds and live their dreams. We can learn from that.

Volunteer opportunities are available with Shriners, but due to the overwhelming demand, Lillian says she can only accept about 5% of applications. There is a fairly extensive volunteer process, including TB and drug testing, along with background checks. She said that she is always looking for great long-term volunteers, so please don’t let the acceptance rate discourage you from applying.

In fact, Lillian says that volunteers are needed to help take the holiday decorations down on December 29th. Contact her at the number below.

At the very least, I urge you to take a tour of the hospital. It’s a beautiful facility and will leave you touched and inspired.

The volunteers had a great time today.

Cynthia said “visiting the orthotics room was very interesting.  I was pretty amazed to see the work that goes on in there to help the children lead as normal a life as possible.”

Tenisha enjoyed her time as well. She said that she’ll remember “Bonding with our group in decorating the tree and everyone coming together for such a worthy cause”

Meghan added “A memorable moment for me was when everyone pulled together to make Shriner’s Children’s Hospital ready for Christmas!  I am so happy that I was able to be a part of this cause.”

I could only imagine the looks on the faces of the kids as they came back to the hospital to see it transformed to a holiday wonderland. Thanks to all the volunteers who came out today, along with Lillian for all the hard work she does for an amazing organization, The Shriners Hospitals for Children.

Shriners Hospitals For Children
Volunteer opportunities
(916) 453-2087

Please leave a comment below!