Spending large amounts of time with little kids might seem like a chore to some; however, to senior Ellie Jaskowiak, volunteering her time with the kids at the Children’s Hospital combines everything she loves into her ideal way to spend her Saturday mornings.
Volunteering at the Children’s Hospital inspires Jaskowiak to pursue her dreams of working in the medical field. “I want to be a doctor, especially one that works with babies, and I thought it [volunteering at the Children’s Hospital] would be a good hospital experience,” said Jaskowiak.
She learned of this volunteering opportunity through Mr. Zach Zeckser during her freshman year at BSM. “He was always talking about how awesome it is. I thought it would be fun, and now I’ve been volunteering there for three years for about three to four hours at a time,” said Jaskowiak.
Jaskowiak devotes herself for three or four hours making sure the young children at the hospital feel loved during their process of treatments. “I hold the babies and play with them because most of them are sick and their parent’s aren’t there all of the time,” said Jaskowiak.
When Jaskowiak is not spending her time in the baby nursery at the hospital, she dedicates her time with other children at the Children’s Hospital. “I play with little kids that are patients there, we play video games, read books, and color. Everyone there is sick, so it’s my job to cheer them up and just have fun,” said Jaskowiak.
Over her many years of volunteering at the hospital, Jaskowiak shares many memories of the patients there. “There was a little girl, her name was Destiny, she always made bracelets and one day she gave me one and told me it was her favorite and she wanted me to have it because I was her favorite too. I still have it,” said Jaskowiak.
Fun activities such as passing out popsicles to the children from an ice cream truck fill most of Jaskowiak’s days. However, volunteering also comes with some difficult moments for Ellie. “Once there was this baby who had Down Syndrome, he was only nine month old and about two pounds; he cried a lot and I just held him all day long. It was the saddest thing ever,” said Jaskowiak.
Jaskowiak hopes to continue her volunteer work for as long as possible, even extending her outreach to the children at the hospital during the summer months between college school years. “I honestly enjoy it,” said Jaskowiak.
