Teens Volunteer Time to Help Cancer Patients

Aug. 3, 2009 | While many teens were relaxing at the pool or working a summer job, six dedicated their time to a more altruistic cause: affecting the lives of people living with cancer.

The Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) welcomed six young people ages 14-17 to its 2009 teen summer volunteer program. The volunteers each dedicated at least seven hours per week to the four-week program.

Sixteen-year-old Sumia Basunia lives in Atlanta but decided to join the program while visiting relatives in Little Rock, and 15-year-old Aaron Yin returned for his second year of volunteering. Both agreed that their favorite activity of the summer was baking cookies and handing them out to patients and visitors in the waiting rooms.

In addition to cookie delivery, the volunteers also participated in several group projects at the UAMS Family Home, a nonprofit facility that provides low-cost housing for cancer patients and parents of infants in the UAMS neonatal intensive care unit. Working together, the group cleaned the home’s common areas, alphabetized the library and worked in the garden. They also assembled bags of toiletry items for residents of the Family Home.

At the Cancer Institute, the volunteers assisted in the relocation of the Patient Support Center, worked in the gift shop, and organized and distributed clothing to patients through the Department of Social Work.

“They were a hard working group, and we were really proud of all that accomplished in such a short amount of time,” said Carrie Wills, volunteer coordinator at the Cancer Institute and director of the teen volunteer program.

Source:
1. Teens Volunteer Time to Help Cancer Patients