[TNham] Jolly volunteers bring presents, cheer to hospitalized children

[Greg Williams]

Does any group do this in Tennessee?
Greg

Jolly volunteers bring presents, cheer to hospitalized children
December 25,2005
Travis M. Whitehead
The Monitor

http://www.themonitor.com/SiteProcessor.cfm?Template=/GlobalTemplates/Details.cfm&StoryID=10787&Section=Local

WESLACO — Brandon Reyes’ big, brown eyes lit up when Santa walked into 
his hospital room.

"Do you like football?" asked Santa as he rummaged through his big red 
bag of presents.

"How about a Nerf football?" he said, as he handed the ball to Brandon, 
7, who was at Knapp Medical Center earlier this week with a nasty case 
of bronchitis.

Santa, who identified himself only as "Santa Bryan" of Weslaco, had been 
walking up and down Knapp’s halls handing out stuffed animals and other 
gifts. He was but one of several volunteers and volunteer groups 
visiting Knapp and other hospitals throughout the Rio Grande Valley in 
the days leading up to Christmas.

Being in the hospital is tough for a child any time of year, but it can 
be especially disappointing at Christmas time when children expect to be 
at home eating cookies and shaking presents under the tree.

"It’s hard for the families," said Debbie Rektorik, chief special 
services officer.

That’s why Linda Sandoval led an array of Girl Scouts, 4 to 8 years old, 
through the pediatric unit of Rio Grande Regional Hospital to sing 
Christmas carols.

"I think the patients really enjoyed it," Sandoval said. "I know one 
little boy with his parents came out of the room and sat outside to 
listen to the girl carolers, as well as other people. Some were not able 
to come out of their rooms, but the doors were open to listen in on the 
carolers."

Sandoval said one patient had just come out of surgery when the carolers 
— including Brownies from Troop 397, Daisies from Troop 486 and Junior 
Girl Scouts from Troop 70 — arrived to cheer up the patients.

The girls, she said, didn’t get to interact too closely with the 
patients to make sure the patients’ weakened immune systems weren’t 
compromised further. But the girls were very excited about the project 
nonetheless.

Adrian and Tracy Hooks, whose infant son, Christian Hooks, was in the 
hospital fighting a viral infection, got a visit from Santa the same day 
Brandon received his Nerf football. Baby Christian, just a few days shy 
of turning 3 months old, received a stuffed reindeer from Santa.

Hooks’ grandmother, Maureen Moreno, held the reindeer while her grandson 
seemed to be preoccupied with other matters: chugging eagerly on a bottle.

"Now, he’s laughing and smiling," said his mother, Tracy Moreno Hooks, 
19, a sound of relief clearly tinging her voice.

The family hadn’t had a chance to have Christian’s picture taken with 
Santa so they were grateful Santa came to see them.

Santa did more than just hand out toys; he put the little ones on his 
lap like he would do in the stores and malls.

"Here we go," he said as he sat down and held Christian, whose tiny 
mouth yawned wide open.

"There’s my little boy," said his mother. "There’s my little angel."

Outside the hospital room, Santa Bryan said it "does my heart real good 
to come down and visit these kids."

"They don’t have a chance to see Santa," he said. "They don’t have a 
chance to get a visit or a gift. Personally, I was in the area measuring 
chimneys and thought I would stop and see if they would like a visit."

Just two days before Santa’s visit, a group of ham radio operators also 
came to Knapp, as well as McAllen Medical Center and Valley Baptist 
Medical Center, to lift patients’ spirits.

The ham operators group, Emergency Amateurs Responding To Help, let the 
children in the hospital speak into the radio and tell Santa what they 
wanted for Christmas.

"They asked for Camaros, Hummers, all kinds of things," said John 
Bearden, emergency coordinator for the organization.

"It went really well," Bearden said. "We had about six children of age 
able to communicate on the radio. We have been doing this for six or 
seven years. I love watching the smiles on the kids’ faces."

The Camaro request came from Brandon. His mother, Teresa Castillo of 
Edcouch-Elsa, said the boy wanted both a remote control Camaro and a 
real Camaro.

Two days later, when Santa Claus appeared in the doorway, the Camaro 
didn’t appear, but there was still plenty of joy and laughter.

"A real Camaro is a little too big for me on my sleigh," Santa said.

Castillo was grateful for the visit to her son’s room, both from Santa 
and the radio operators who let little Brandon ham it up over the airwaves.

"It makes me feel good because it made him happy, so I really appreciate 
it," she said.

She wondered when her son would leave the hospital; he had already 
stayed there a week.

"They told me he might go home Wednesday, but I’m hoping to take him on 
Tuesday," she said. "They have to do some X-rays."

Reyes smiled as he looked at the football. His mother prompted him to 
tell Santa he liked the gift, but the boy seemed too shy to speak.

"I think the smile says it all," Santa said.