Teen volunteer makes a difference

Blake Graham has been volunteering at Children's for more than a year, primarily in the Orthopedics service. He became interested in volunteering because his family fosters children who are treated at the ARCH Center at Children's.

The 16-year-old junior from Flower Mound has this piece of advice to other teenagers thinking about volunteering: "Do it. It's very interesting, and you learn a lot about yourself while doing it. You see how these kids can be happy even when things go wrong. They could be basically living here and they're still happy. It really makes you think about your life and what you have."

Graham also wants potential teen volunteers to know that it's a misimpression that you really won't get noticed or you'll be filing [documents].

"Here, you're with a child; you get to talk to people," he said. "I'm not saying it's not a lot of work, but it's work you're going to be proud of."

One moment he recalls is when a child, whom he had played tic-tac-toe with during a previous visit to the Orthopedics service, came for another appointment. The child saw Blake in the clinic and asked him to play another game of X's and O's. "That was really nice that he remembered me," Blake said.

He also said the time requirements should not put off potential teen volunteers. Although Blake comes to Children's once a week for four hours, teen volunteers are required to put in only 50 hours per year.

"When you volunteer at Children's, you're going to get noticed," Blake said. "You can really make a difference."

Tags: volunteer