Paint a Happy Face!

Since the wonderful experience I had in Tijuana, I've been wanting to do more volunteer work. It's a little bit of my time that not only forces me to break away from my daily routine, it just feels great to do something nice for someone else.


This morning I was at Paramount Studios where the Childrens Hospital hosted an event called Celebrate Life. The event was to gives patients and their families an opportunity to meet representatives from community agencies, and interact with their medical caregivers in a safe, non-hospital environment. I volunteered with a group called CoachArt, an organization that offers free art lessons to help enhance confidence in children with chronic and life threatening illnesses.



The activity today was to invite the children to paint terra cotta pots with periwinkle plants them. The significance of the periwinkle "Vinca" flower is that its extract is used in cancer fighting drugs. Our job was to plant the flowers, set up the tables, and help the kids paint.



One of the cutest moments was when I was talking to a little girl named Emma and she turned to her mom and said "How does everybody know my name?" I think I scared her a little, she didn't realize she was wearing a name tag.


It's really amazing how taking a little bit of time to do something like this feels like a reset button. I feel revived and I'm reminded how lucky I am to have good health.