4-H Delivers

4-Hers Wrap Hospital Patients in Love

The Issue

Hospital patients, especially children, face many struggles.  They often feel pain, loneliness, and depression.  Hospital stays also place financial burdens on families.

What has 4-H Done?

The Felton 4-H club members in Santa Cruz County became inspired to find out if a local hospital needed their support. Through a personal contact, they learned that the Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital cared for seriously ill children.

The 4-H club members got together to make a total of thirty blankets to give to premature babies and sick children at the hospital. With the help of donations and a service-learning RFP award, they were able to provide ten blankets for boys, ten for girls, and another ten for premature babies.

The Payoff

“The project members were all so glad to be able to give something that would bring the patients some joy and comfort,” says Rachel Yanez, a 4-H community service advisor. With solid teamwork, the group was successful in helping thirty kids and their families. Project members learned many important life lessons, including successful teamwork, and passionate effort.  Because of the project’s success, the group is now looking forward to crafting more blankets for the following years. One of the project members said, “Parents and family that were visiting their loved ones were very thankful for the gift of the blankets and thanked us repeatedly.”

Author: Pat English, 4-H Program Representative