Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – Oh what fun it is not…to be in the hospital on Christmas.
But there are no Grinches at HSHS St. John’s Children’s Hospital, where donors and volunteers are making sure every kid staying there has a present to open on Christmas.
“With the help some volunteers, my team, and the McGraw family come up here, we sort the toys by age, we let them come and ‘shop’, and then we have people who will wrap the gifts,” said Ali Farmer, Director, St. John’s Hospital Foundation. “If the family decides that they want to put it under the tree for Christmas, they can do that. Or, we can bring it down to their hospital bed, and they can open it today at the hospital.”
It’s called “Santa’s Workshop.” Toy drives held prior to this week help provide the gifts that will be given to the little ones, like Stuart Barnard, age 3, who is recovering from an emergency surgery a few days ago. When it was apparently Stuart would need to stay in the hospital, his mother Melanie said she tried to not get her son too excited about Christmas.
“It was not part of our Christmas plans, needless to say, to be here in the hospital,” said Melanie Barnard. “Everyone has been just fantastic, and it’s really cool the things they do for families and the kids that are here. It’s hard to be in the hospital. It’s hard to have sick kids. It’s especially hard when you can’t be around friends and family at the holidays.”
Barnard said when her son had surgery, she had no idea if she could even make Christmas happen.
Turns out, Santa and his elves came through.
Stuart, Barnard said, is recovering well, and is even getting excited about Christmas anyway. His mother is excited about the community, which seems to always come through when it’s needed the most.
“I’ve always been very proud to be a part of Springfield and the community. It’s amazing how much they step up for each other. This is, honestly, just one really exciting example of just how much the community comes together to care for the…people who are struggling.”
CLICK HERE to donate to HSHS St. John’s Hospital Foundation.
