Our first official For a Day event was a huge success! We volunteered in the pediatric care unit with patients ages 3 to 10. We had 6 girls who were able to participate in the actual party and had 1 girl and 2 boys who were able to have an in-room visit where we brought crafts and a goodie bag to them. Many of the patients were accompanied by their parents who loved the event. They were constantly taking photos and commenting on how special the program was.

The nurses also were thrilled to see the kids having so much fun. We had different stations available: crowns/tiaras and boas for distribution; nail polish/manicures; makeup and makeovers; and crown crafts and shield decorating. One of the surprising things that the patients enjoyed was applying makeup on their family members and staff! Our volunteers supervised to ensure that new makeup brushes were used and disposed of each time. This became an unexpected, although fun activity for the kids. Of our five volunteers, four (myself included) were involved in the Miss America Organization as local titleholders and two brought their crowns and sashes.