Donations and Sweets "You have a chance to do an extra credit service project," said Mrs. Mondragon, my language arts and social studies teacher. "Hey! Let's do the this together." whispered Kaitlyn. "Sure!" I replied. I remembered being in the hospital when I was five years old. I had to stay in the hospital for a week. There, every "scary" thing I did (needles) I would always get a stuffed animal. I wondered, "Hmm. How does the hospital have so many toys to give out." I then realized that the toys would give a bit of happiness and comfort to a child like me. I talked to Kaitlyn about raising money for the kids at hospitals. She agreed but we later found out that the toys would be unsanitary. "Let's do a children's hospital like CHOC, Children's Hospital of Orange County." said Kaitlyn. "That is a great idea!" I answered. "And I also heard about families that don't have enough money for their kid to have surgery. Instead of raising money for toys, we could raise money for a family to help pay for surgery," said Kaitlyn. "Since you like cooking, we could sell baked goods to earn money," I said. So we stayed up on a Saturday night to bake some cookies. We went around, door to door, to friends and family, and walked around at a soccer game collecting donations. Our goal was $400, however, we were able to raise $368.50. A few weeks later, Kaitlyn's mom took us to CHOC to give them the donations. There, we were able to get a little tour of the first two floors seeing different parts of the new hospital tower. For example, Kaitlyn and I were able to see the little outdoor play area, movie room, and the hospital's very own radio station for the patients. I learned in the tour that the patients still get to celebrate Halloween, Christmas and so much more. There is a little library and meditation and prayer room. These little things are for the patients but also for the parents. Being a very sick hospital patient is not just overwhelming for the child but also for the parent having a new and complete change in their life. The hospital provides the comfort to the parents as well. Now I really understood how the money could really help someone out. It could relieve the a little stress from the parent(s). I had to be eighteen or older to see anything more than just the first two floors. Towards the end of the trip I knew that I would definitely be back again, helping some more. At the end of the trip, I felt very happy and proud of us two because this money could help a patient actually come outside of the hospital. It would be one step closer to having a chance to actually celebrate Christmas with friends and family at home. Rooms like the movie room or the little play are no longer needed because patient can go to the public theater or to the park. This project inspired me to continue to help people and showed me that a little step can make a huge impact. I am so glad I had this amazing opportunity to see how it feels to do an act of kindness.
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AuthorI am an 11 year old girl, oldest of 6 kids. I love to be around animals and be outdoors with my family. Archives
March 2017
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