Christine Khoury
6 Minute Read
Spreading Joy to Hospitals “Virtually”!
July 7, 2020
Last month, we finally were able to get back to spreading JOY to Courageous Kids by way of a “hospital visit” with two of our NEGU All-Stars. It looked a little different than our regular hospital visits since there are still strict visitor restrictions due to COVID-19, but nonetheless, we were thrilled to be able to engage with Courageous Kids again at Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas! Our NEGU All-Stars, Alex Young and Madison Kocian joined us for a fun time of opening JoyJars, playing trivia games, and answering questions about their passion for kids fighting cancer. Our NEGU All-Stars “zoomed” in and Cook Children’s live-streamed them on their internal television network that is available to watch in each hospital room and kids had the chance to call down to interact or ask questions.
They had a blast getting to talk about our NEGU wristbands and Jessie’s motto to Never Ever Give Up and all that it has meant to them in their lives. Here are a few quotes that we captured from these special visits:
They had a blast getting to talk about our NEGU wristbands and Jessie’s motto to Never Ever Give Up and all that it has meant to them in their lives. Here are a few quotes that we captured from these special visits:
“After practicing stay-at-home orders, I have an even greater admiration for the children and their families who spend long days in hospital rooms fighting for their lives. I’m so happy I could make a virtual appearance at Cook Children’s to bring some light to those hospital rooms. Growing up in Dallas, it’s always special to be able to give back to the DFW community.”
– Madison Kocian
“I make it a priority to encourage kids fighting cancer in my life because of Micah Ahern and learning about what he went through and how childhood cancer is very underfunded and looked over. These kids need our help and look up to us and I love being there for them in any possible way and to tell them to Never Ever Give Up.”
– Alex Young
“One of our patients who is an 11-year-old boy has been really down his whole stay. After we delivered a JoyJar to him, his mom came back and found the staff member. She said thanks for the Joy Jar, she said, opening it and playing with what was inside changed his whole demeanour, lifted his spirits and brightened his day. The mom said it was the first time he had given her a real smile since being admitted!”
-Megan Hodges Cook, Cook Children’s Community Program Coordinator
We are so thankful for Alex and Madison and their incredible hearts for kids fighting cancer! We are also super thankful for everyone at Cook who continues to encourage kids to NEGU! Thank you, Cook Children’s for having us and we can’t wait to spread JOY to your kiddos in person again in the future!