In an emergency, families tend to quickly head to the hospital without taking any provisions with them.
For parents waiting in the hospital when their children are in need of care, a Comfort Cart provides coffee, personal hygiene items (shampoo, conditioner, toothbrushes, toothpaste), phone chargers, activity books, and toys for kids.
It wasn’t until October of last year when the Chinook Regional Hospital received its first Comfort Cart, said Veronica Smith.
According to Smith, Ronald McDonald House Canada had Comfort Carts in hospitals in Edmonton, Calgary, and Red Deer, but not in Lethbridge.
Smith noted the cart travels between different units at Chinook Regional Hospital, including labour and delivery, the NICU, the pediatric unit, and the ambulatory care unit.
“There’s a huge diverse group of people that it’s serving. Since they started last year, they’ve served over 1,400 families in Lethbridge alone,” Smith added. “There’s a huge need for it.”
When families have an emergency, they just go to the hospital, and sometimes they end up being there for hours, even overnight and into the next day.
“You just don’t have time to go home, especially if you’re from out of town or if you don’t have a lot of family to run and bring you things. It’s nice to be able to take a walk down the hallway, find the Comfort Cart and have a shower or brush your teeth,” said Smith.
Many family members forget to bring their phone chargers, as well. “And their phone dies.”
“They also do activity books and toys for kids and siblings. If there are siblings that are stuck in the hospital and have to sit still and wait and be quiet, little things for them to do,” added Smith.
Right now, the Comfort Cart needs donations, especially personal hygiene items, including shampoo, conditioner, feminine hygiene products, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and phone chargers.
“We’re really hoping to drum up some support for donations,” Smith noted.
Donations can be dropped off over the next few weeks at Freddie’s Paint, Westwind Honda, and at the Chinook Regional Hospital Foundation Office, which accepts donations year-round.
“My daughter and I lived at Ronald McDonald House for 722 days, while she was fighting cancer. It was a shock to me at how much the Calgary hospital did for us and how much different patient support care things they had we didn’t have when we were in the hospital in Lethbridge,” added Smith. “I’m so thankful we were able to bring that Comfort Cart experience to patients in Lethbridge.”
Smith pointed out a tiny act of kindness like a cup of coffee or a child’s activity book can put a smile on the face of a family who’s struggling and having a really terrible day. “Donating to the Comfort Cart is an easy way to make a big impact in a family’s day. When you donate money, you never know where it’s going to go or what administrative costs it goes towards. But gifts in-kind, which means donations of physical items, go directly into those families’ hands.”
