Children’s hospital offers cheer and opportunity with holiday store

Childrens hospital offers cheer and opportunity with holiday store

The Cheer Holiday Store allows parents to shop for toys for their children being treated at Benioff Childrens Hospital Oakland, as well as their siblings. Volunteers and staff even do the gift wrap.

OAKLAND, Calif. - When a child is in the hospital during the holiday season, parents don’t often get the chance to shop for the necessities for the holidays.

At Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, staff and volunteers have created a convenient option to bring joy and delight for families even though a loved one is in the hospital.

Parents of hospital inpatients were able to visit the "cheer holiday store," located in a conference room on the second floor of the hospital that usually has about 100 patients in beds on any given day.

The holidays bring additional stress for parents with kids. Shopping and wrapping gifts can be hectic, even more so when you have a child in the hospital.

Mawawa Sano has a one-year-old boy who was admitted when he had breathing complications a few days ago. Sano has two other kids at home, who are 9 years old and 4 years old.

Sano said with a giggle, "I'm going to surprise them with the gifts – they’ll say, ‘mommy, how did you get this game?"

Donations have been coming in all year from around the community to the hospital. There’s a giant teddy bear that sits atop a donation box in the lobby for dropping off items.

The elves are staff and volunteers, who assist the families in choosing gifts and then do all the wrapping! Rechelle Porter manages the process. She’s also manager of the Child Life and Art Therapies program, which provides music therapy at the bedside for patients.

The large room was stocked with colorful toys displayed on tables, sorted by age range. There were several packages bearing bright colors and popular brands. From Barbie to basketballs, soft plush characters and puzzles. Activity kits like jewelry making and robotics kits were carefully placed among large, colorful boxes containing Legos.

Porter said, "Families get a personal shopper to go around and find out what gifts or things they think their child would like. Then we actually help them with the selection. Then they also have the opportunity to get their gifts wrapped!’

Music and art are offered at the bedside for patients, as these tactile arts are proven to be therapeutic for children and parents.

Many of the new toys come from children and families who have been served by the hospital.

Porter said, "We had a donor that came to us whose child had passed away. One of his wishes was to make sure kids in the hospital had Legos. The parents came and provided our team with an amazing donation of Legos, and those are one of our top asked for requests, so I know it is going to bring so much joy to so many patients."

For a parent with a child in the hospital, staying focused on your child’s health is all consuming and a priority.

Jessica Dominguez has a 16-year-old stepson who’s been in and out of the hospital for two months. She said, "Christmas kind of snuck up on us. It's been hard. To be honest, I haven't even shopped at all. So it's been good."

Dominguez is grateful, like many families who appreciate the little efforts of support that provide hope.

The project "Cheer Holiday Store" collects donations of new toys all year long.

If you would like to help, Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland is always in need of toys for infants and teenagers.

Alice Wertz is a freelance reporter for KTVU Fox 2 News. She can be reached at Alice.Wertz@Fox.com