It’s official!!! On Feb. 5th I was finally able to donate video games to Loma Linda Hospital. I donated the video games to the same floor I was on when I was sick with cancer from 1999 to 2003. My main adjective was to buy video games that catered more towards the teen cancer patients from ages 15 to 19 years old.
When I was sick in the hospital at 14 and 17 years old, I rarely went to the playroom because they accommodated young children. I wanted to donate something that could take the teen patients minds off of their cancer ordeal.
My donation to the Loma Linda Children’s Hospital, Hematology and Oncology Department:
PlayStation 4 with two games: The Uncharted Collection and Madden 16.
Xbox One with two games: Star Wars Battlefront and Halo Guardians.
PlayStation 3 with three games: The inFAMOUS Collection, Ratchet and Clank: Into the Nexus and PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royal.
I hope they have a personal connection with the characters of the video games I donated, because I had personal connection with the inFAMOUS franchise and Cole MacGrath. Cole helped me during a time in my life when I was looking for somebody to relate to.
I talked to the Child Life Specialist about what I wanted to donate and he came up with the idea of having TV on a cart so the teens could wheel the video games into their room, which I thought was a great idea. Unfortunately, on the day I donated the video games. I wasn’t able to take them out of the boxes because the floor was busy doing other things, and the TV with the cart wasn’t available.
I volunteered again on Feb. 8th, and I noticed the video games were still in their boxes. I talked to the Child Life Specialist about why the games were still in the boxes. He said they have to follow certain procedures before the video games could be playable for the patients. At the end of my volunteering shift, the Child Life Assistant told me that they are going to label the video games and the systems. I’m hoping by my next volunteer shift, the video games will be hooked up, ready for the teens to play and have fun.
At the end of the day, it felt good to arrive with the video games for the teen patients. I know that the teens will appreciate what I donated for them, and I know it will also make them feel special because this is something specifically for them.
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