140 year of Shriners

140 year of Shriners

Thursday, December 17, 2009

SKDT Makes a Difference at Shriners


Althea’s Blog: December 16, 2009 by Althea


On Sunday Becca, Candace, Jeannie, Katie, Kelly and I participated in a Kings pizza party at Shriners Hospital for Children to bring smiles to the Sacramento youth who’ve been affected by burn accidents.

Heading to the hospital, I didn’t know what to expect because it’s hard to see kids, or anyone, hurt. But now I can see why some of my teammates told me it’s their favorite appearance of the year. The kids, who ranged from two years-old to teenagers, were excited to see us and showed us a lot of courage as we met them one by one. Many of them told us their stories. The most memorable story was a boy who was only two years-old and had been in the hospital since Thanksgiving. Due to precautionary measures at Shriners, kids must be at least 16 years-old to visit, so the boy’s twin sister hadn’t been able to visit him at all. Hearing the story from his parents reminded me how lucky I am to be able to see my sister and all of my family and friends whenever I want.

Kings players Kevin Martin, Sean May, Jason Thompson, Jon Brockman and Sergio Rodriguez also attended the pizza party and made a lot of the children’s day by playing games like Wii, pool and mini basketball with them. Along with handing out pizza and punch, the young Kings fans were given Kings goodie bags filled with a comic book, foam finger, notebook, Wells Fargo stuffed animal and a basketball for the players and us to autograph.

It was a lot of fun meeting all of the children and wonderful to see them receiving such good treatment from the Shriners staff. I hope the remainder of their treatment goes well. I wish them all a special happy holiday!

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