For the patients of Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA,
this Sunday marks an annual opportunity to course UCLA’s
campus ““ not physically, but in the thoughts of the many
students and community members who will be here running and walking
to raise money for them.
The sixth annual UCLA Run/Walk 5k fund-raiser for the Child
Life/Child Development Program at Mattel Children’s Hospital
at UCLA begins this Sunday at 8:30 a.m. The development program, a
type of “play therapy,” seeks to help child patients
have a more enjoyable time while in the hospital through various
art projects, playtime and educational activities.
The theme of the run/walk this year is “Color Their
Lives.”
“We want to color their lives, make them happier, help
them,” said Ann Wong, co-director of UCLA Run/Walk and a
fourth-year economics student.
Wong said their goal is to raise $50,000 and have 2,000
participants, including students, patient families and community
members.
The commitment of the students involved and their organizational
skills are impressive, said Edward McCabe, physician in chief at
Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA.
“They didn’t set a goal that was going to be a slam
dunk. They set a goal that would challenge them,” he
said.
McCabe, who has been involved with the fund-raiser since it
began in 1999, said before UCLA Run/Walk, funding for the Child
Life/Child Development Program was decreasing and harder to find.
Grants, gifts and now the run/walk help the program, which McCabe
deems “incredibly important,” to continue.
“Too often when kids are in hospitals they’re
patients. Kids need to be kids,” he said.
Rachel Hunt, director of the development program, said the
program tries to help children feel a sense of control in their
lives and ease the pain of thing that scares them most:
needles.
“You become pincushions,” she said of children who
spend a lot of time in hospitals. “Kids want and need to be
kids first and foremost.”
Many of the children in the program do indeed spend a lot of
time in hospitals, as many of them are waiting for organ
transplants and have other serious illnesses. The effects of
extensive hospital stays are far-reaching, Hunt said.
“When a child is sick, it’s not just the child that
is sick. The entire family is affected,” she said.
Money raised goes toward purchasing age-appropriate toys and
educational tools, as well as for medical equipment and staffing
the program. Everyday items such as DVDs and art materials for
creative expression to help children make sense of what is going on
in their lives are also purchased by means of the fund-raiser. Hunt
said these materials are just as important as medicine.
“Kids need a whole lot more than medicine to get
well,” she said.
Hunt encourages students and community members to come out on
Sunday and support the effort to help the children of the hospital
have fuller lives.
“Try and remember what it was like to be a child,”
she said.
The run/walk begins in Bruin Plaza, continues along Charles E.
Young Drive through North Campus to the turning around point at
Moore Hall. Actor Topher Grace is scheduled to speak at the opening
ceremonies.
Online registration continues until midnight on Friday at
www.runwalk.ucla.edu. Day-of registration and check-in begin at
6:45 a.m. on Sunday in Bruin Plaza.