The Ascension’s Homecoming Court has done service projects for years, but this is the first time that the court went into the community for their service opportunity with a unanimous decision of wanting to do this. For the service project, the court decided to pass out toys throughout the pediatric center. This was an amazing experience that filled the hearts of the children throughout the hospital. Providing toys for a diverse age group (1 month-16yrs), the court enjoyed engaging with the patients. A group of 3 girls would go in a patient’s room and gave them a gift. The most enjoyable part was to see the happy emotions that crossed the children’s faces and watching them start to play with their new gift in front of you. Without a doubt, they enjoyed their gifts, but they also enjoyed the conversations and attention. I know it wasn’t just me that genuinely cared about their answers to our questions. They could tell at that moment, they were being heard and high school girls gave up their time to have a conversation with them just to impact and brighten their day. This was an amazing experience for the girls on the court and the patients. This was a bonding moment as the court came together. Just buying the toys was an experience while picking out the toys together, scattered around Target looking for something for all ages.

When some of the girls were asked what moment touched their hearts, they answered:

Elise Juneau: “It was my groups turn to pick a gift and go into a room. We were told the baby was 3 months old and we picked an animal blanket. While waiting to go in the room, we elaborated on this one gift that could be with this girl forever. As we were holding it, we were thinking that this could be her comfort blanket for the rest of her life, and we get to be the ones to give it to her. We went into the room and got to talk to the mother of the child. As I said, my favorite thing was the talking and getting to know the patients and their families. As we put the animal blanket down by the baby, the little animal head was larger than the babies head. It was adorable. Since the whole experience of this service opportunity, I enjoy praying for every patient in that hospital.”

Hannah Mattke: “It really was so heartwarming to go into the hospital and see the nurses caring for each and every one of the patients. The woman that was in charge of us while we were there really showed how much she cared for those kids. She knew exactly what they liked and knew so much about them. It was truly amazing to see how much love she put into her job. I also loved seeing the parents of the babies faces light up when we walked in with a small gift for their baby, and they were all so thankful we even just came to say hey. It was such a cool experience and I loved going to visit the kids over at Women’s and children’s!”

Annlouise Babineaux: “Seeing the eyes of a little boy light up after we brought him a toy and talked to him for a little bit warmed my heart. What was even better, the little boy asked for an extra toy to give to his brother! It was one of the sweetest things I’ve seen.”

Ronni High: “Being stuck, sick in the hospital is not a fun thing. You can’t do much, you don’t feel good, the whole vibe is draining and sad. So as Homecoming Court, we decided to take a trip to the pediatric ward of Women’s and Children’s Hospital and visit the children there. We brought them little sussies to help make their day and make them feel a little better about being stuck in a sad room. One of my favorite moments was when we got to visit a little baby who had four siblings and a mother there taking care of her. It was so cute to see the whole family there making sure that everything was alright. I could tell that the siblings were getting a little bored and anxious about being there, so we gave them little sussies and they seemed to light up. It was such an amazing moment.”

Lillian Broussard: “Seeing the kids faces light up with joy over something as simple as a stuffed animal truly touched my heart. It made me realize that we can truly make a difference in someone’s life by taking time out of our day to spend time with others and spread a little love in the midst of our busy lives.”

Sidney Ortego: “When I walked into a patient room and saw that a mother not only had to take care of her sick child but her poor other perfectly healthy children in a small hospital room that really made me think of all the hard work not only the children go through to get well but the parents.”

Addie Vidrine: “When we visited the hospital it really did warm my heart. Seeing the kids’ faces light up whenever we would walk into the room with the smallest gift was the best part. You never really realize how much something so small to you can mean so much to someone else. There was one 13 year old girl whose face lit up so fast when she saw us and immediately opened her arms up for hugs. It was the cutest thing.”