DANVILLE - Going to the hospital can be scary for children, but junior volunteers at Geisinger Medical Center (GMC) have found a way to offer a little comfort.
In a program titled "Smiles for Kids from Kids," the junior volunteers, ages 14 to 18, have begun distributing teddy bears to children throughout the hospital who appear to need some comforting.
The program got its start as junior volunteers looked for a way to bring smiles to the faces of GMC's youngest patients, said Lynn Shearer, director of volunteer services at Geisinger.
"Our junior volunteers were often coming back from calls talking about the children they would see throughout the hospital who appeared to be struggling," Shearer said.
Looking for a way to help, Shearer remembered that she had a supply of teddy bears stashed away in a closet. Since then, junior volunteers who carry a few bears in the pockets of their uniforms, offer a teddy bear to a child who may be sore after a recent procedure or frightened to be in a new place.
Distributing teddy bears has allowed the junior volunteers to feel that they are making a difference, Shearer said.
"I recently gave a teddy bear to a little boy. He just snuggled it and played with it," said junior volunteer Katey Reich, 13, of Sunbury. "It was really amazing to see how one teddy bear could make a baby so happy."
Sixteen-year-old junior volunteer Christian Urquhart, of Milton, agreed.
"It's definitely given us a reality check, seeing how some kids our age are going through some difficult things," Urquhart said. "It's nice to be able to cheer them up."
Shearer said the program will continue until her supply of teddy bears runs out.
GMC has nearly 80 junior volunteers this summer from the surrounding five-county area. They work throughout the hospital transporting blood products and specimens, delivering patient mail and flowers, delivering ice water, cleaning toys in play rooms and working in the Miracle Square Gift Shop, among other tasks.
Junior volunteers must complete an application, a guidance counselor evaluation and an interview with Shearer, as well as a daylong training session.