MK Fletcher

Children's Harbor is a safe place connected to Children's Hospital where anybody from the hospital can go to relax or unwind. At the Harbor, there is a main "living room" with a TV and ping pong table, there is a library where you can read books, a full kitchen where you can have family meals, a state of the art work out facility, a game room, washer and dryer for parents, a computer room, basketball court, even a hair salon. The Harbor also has counselors available for anyone to talk with. The Harbor is basically the "home away from home" that you normally wouldn't get in the hospital.

I have been serving at Children's Hospital/Harbor for around a year or so. I got involved with the hospital/Harbor because after everything that all of those people had done for me while I was sick, I wanted to give back. I volunteer at the hospital every Thursday and my family and I are one of the first ambassador families of the Harbor. That being said, we go to speaking engagements promoting the Harbor, what a great tool it is for many families, how everyone that works/volunteers there is amazing and how awesome it is.

I'll take what I've learned from volunteering at the hospital/Harbor by showing others the love that everyone there has shown me. I also hope to be a light to those who are trapped in the darkness of an illness or impairment. I want to show people that there is life beyond what your physical, mental, emotional and bodily imperfections are and that there is hope to a better life. Just because you have cancer, or sickle cell, or are in a wheelchair, or are a burn victim or whatever the case may be, doesn't mean that you aren't still just a kid and that you have every right to as great of a childhood as everyone else. I think that the Harbor shows us, the patients, this true fact.

All in all, what serving does for me is like what water does for the Earth's soil. It nurtures, heals, and gives me all the nutrients and love that I need to keep going on. I thank God every day for giving me the desire to want to serve. In a way, I like to think that God gave me my illnesses so that I would have this desire to serve others.