By Janie Yang
One thing I love about volunteering with Footprints is that I never know what’s going to happen on my shift. Every week, I get to the hospital, meet up with my shift buddies, and the kids tend to surprise us with the rest :) This semester I’ve had so many memorable shifts. Like the time I played Lego batman with a kid and then real life Batman showed up on the unit to surprise him for Halloween (his reaction was priceless!). Or the time my shift buddies and I couldn’t stop laughing when we played “grocery store” with a girl who insisted on giving us more money than we payed. We played “restaurant” afterwards and she had the biggest smile on her face as she bossed us around. Another time, a nurse told us to go check in on a patient and warned us to be careful when we opened the door. When we entered, the kid had a whole basketball hoop set up in his room! We spent the shift seeing how many shots we could make, and the hospital room felt as big as a basketball court.
Being able to share laughs and smiles with the kids on the unit, and letting them “just be kids” is at the heart of Footprints. I’m forever thankful for the opportunity to be a part of this organization. I’m excited to see the kids on the unit every week and I love the sense of community we create. Every shift is different, but equally filled with laughter and smiles all around. I <3 FP!
Attached is a picture of Chloe, a volunteer dog I’d see after my shift during the spring semester 😊
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