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contributed to the Johnson City Press
Twelve Milligan College students who voluntarily reach out into the community as a link to its needs, recently helped brighten the halls — and the faces of patients — of the Pediatrics, the Pediatrics Intensive Care Unit and the Skilled Nursing Floor at Johnson City Medical Center.
The Milligan College students, who are members of L.I.N.C., which stands for “Linking Individuals to the Needs of the Community,” are work-study students, and other volunteers, under the supervision of the college’s Institute for Servant Leadership.
Donna Stanley, supervisor of volunteer/community resources at Mountain States Health Alliance, said the students painted pumpkins with patients, and after gaining permission from parents, led children from other areas of JCMC to the cafeteria, where pumpkin painting and finger paints awaited them. Children ages 2 to 16 participated in the L.I.N.C. projects.
Stanley said she met a patient checking into JCMC through admitting who had a crying 3-year-old child with her.
“The child did not want to come with us to paint, so two of the L.I.N.C. volunteers sat in the admitting floor beside the mother and played with the little girl while her mother checked in. It took the volunteers a while to earn the little girl’s trust, but they won her over, and they all had a good time,” Stanley said.
Participating students included Meghan Graham, Amanda Harrison, Markus Spotts, Cheri Cubol, Kristin Westbrook, Craig Dunfor, Christi Bothwell, Brittany Hilton, Lisa Brandon, Danielle Bush, Mary Beth Dahlstein and Sarah Cooper.
“No words can explain the happy faces of the patients. We all left with glowing smiles, knowing we had brightened their day and had made a difference,” Stanley said.