“We want [the patients] to feel OK and safe because sometimes they’re scared.”
With these words, 7-year-old Kenzie Segreto describes her inspiration for collecting books and stuffed animals for patients at Kansas City, Mo.-based Children’s Mercy Hospital, according to KMBC.com.
She and her mother, Jamie Segreto, drew their inspiration from Lauren Petty, a 10-year-old patient fighting a blood infection at Durham, N.C.-based Duke Children’s Hospital. Ms. Petty decided to collect money and donations for other kids at the hospital.
“We, as a homeschooling family, are working on philanthropy and community service with our kids,” Ms. Segreto said, according to the article. “We kind of took our inspiration from [Ms. Petty’s story]. We were talking and said, ‘Let’s do the same thing for the children’s hospital here.”
Children’s Mercy Hospital staff members love the idea. “Stuffed animals can be a comfort item for a child, as well as a birthday present. It can be an incentive or a reward for getting through treatment,” said Shelly Nicoll, office manager of the hospital’s volunteer services department.
Click here for more information on how to donate items.
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