Today Carla and I visited the Children's Hospital Los Angeles for a tour and meeting with different program directors that we could potentially start volunteering with.
We had been looking forward to this tour for weeks. We had the perfect “professional/pretty outfits” picked out and would squeal with excitement every time we went over the days itinerary.
Carla had of course gotten there before me, found a Starbucks and ordered her decaf. As I waited for my valet ticket she ticket came “run jumping” over to me with a smile from ear to ear. “Girl oh my god wait till you see the lobby!!!” she exclaimed. “I can’t believe we’re gonna get to volunteer here!” Now as I’m sure I’ve explained before Carla and I are easily excitable when it comes to this stuff but the Children's Hospital really is extraordinary. First impressions are this is the FAO shwartz of hospitals. It’s big, bustling, warm, welcoming and exploding with smiles and colors.
We had just pulled ourselves together after our 2 minute spaz out when our beautiful tour guide for the day Michelle Marcinak greeted us with a big hug, visitor tags and best of all parking validation.
Our first stop was with Dianne Lahti the coordinator of the Amerman Family Foundation Dog Therapy Program. There we were introduced to Bonner, a 190 pound black bear slash dog, otherwise known as a Newfloundland. He was busy making his way over to a little girl in a wheel chair who was paralyzed from the neck down. Reality hit me and my heart pained as I watched this tiny child with IV’s hooked up to her body as her family talked quietly to a doctor behind her. But something magical happened as Bonner walked up to the little girl to say hello. Her eyes lit up and followed his every move. Everyone around her abruptly broke all serious conversation and reached down to greet him. The little girl was suddenly surrounded by joy and sweetness as Bonner stood by her chair as if to reassure her that everything was going to be ok.
I obviously wanted to cry. But it was time to put on some more hand sanitizer and sit down with Bonner and his handler to discuss how the program works....
The Dog Therapy program is a program where volunteers bring their dog to the hospital to visit with the patients and their families. If you’re interested in getting involved with the Pet Therapy program make sure you and your dog can comply with the list below. If so email Dianne Lahti at dlahti@chla.usc.edu to schedule a hospital staff evaluation meeting and let her know Earth Angels sent you!
Here is list of things that your dog will need to pass before being considered for the final hospital staff evaluation.
-Dog must be good with children (obviously) and people in general
-Dog must be well trained
-Dog must be at least 2 years old
-Dog must have been with owner for at least one year
-Dog must not react to having ears or bottom touched
-Dog must complete at least one training /obedience class (from petco,petsmart,etc)
-Dog must complete “Pet Partners” registration (can be done at hospital evaluation)
-Volunteer ideally should be willing too bring dog on a semi regular schedule (couple times a month if possible) so that the kids can look forward to the visit
Check out this link to learn more!
http://www.chla.org/site/?c=
Stay tuned for the rest of our visit with the other amazing volunteer programs at CHLA.
Stay tuned for the rest of our visit with the other amazing volunteer programs at CHLA.
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