In a world filled with hatred and violence, today’s youth provide encouragement. Both the patients we see and our volunteers who bring SMILES to pediatric patients provide hope!
Our volunteers can teach us about giving our time and being compassionate. Most of our volunteers are college age and many are premed students. They have a full class load, part-time jobs and the pressures of applying to highly competitive medical schools. Despite all of the demands for their time they are always eager and willing to volunteer.
It’s encouraging to witness the next generation giving back and expressing compassion. Our volunteers are a wonderful example of creating hope.
The children we visit in the hospital have taught us about accepting one another. Our volunteers typically visit with children in their hospital rooms so that we can provide individual attention, but occasionally we will see children in the hospital playrooms. The playrooms are stocked with toys, games and crafts for the children to use. I am in awe of how the children interact with one another. They don’t see the physical differences amongst them. For instance, I watched a little boy who’d recently had a partial leg amputation play with other cancer patients who’d lost their hair. None of the children asked each other about their physical impairments and frankly I don’t think they noticed! They accepted each other and played just as healthy children would play together.
I frequently remark about how inspiring children can be for their resiliency, but now I can add acceptance. It’s an important reminder that somewhere between childhood and adulthood we all became a little less accepting.
Thank you to our volunteers for your time, compassion and for providing hope for the future! Thank you to the children we bring SMILES to for reminding us to accept others for their differences.
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