Hero for a Day
Mayo Clinic – St. Mary’s Campus, Rochester, MN
Volunteers: 7
Boys: 11
Girls: 15
Family Members: 25
Other attendees: Rochester Fire Department, Rochester Police Department, Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office
This event was certainly our largest since the chapter opened in 2015, and may have been the most successful/fun for all involved. It started with lunch for all those in attendance, and eventually led to games/races with patients and the guests of Rochester. The police/sheriff/firefighters were all very involved, and participated in the egg-on-a-spoon race, as well as the dress up race, where teams of kids raced to the officers to place items on them before they raced back to the finish, full of hats, leis, hula hoops, and other items. The dress up race seemed to be the big hit.
In between activities, tours of the firetruck and police cars were given to kids who were able and willing to participate. One little girl asked if she could do makeup and nails of the firefighters in attendance, to which they agreed. KAAL TV was on site, recording much video of the games, makeup station, canine demonstration, and also a couple interviews. They interviewed a mother and me. The mother’s interview is the one they aired, and the line they highlighted captures the entire event – "It makes me just happy to know that she will have good memories of this and that it won't be memories of the pain and crying."
Overall, this was the best FADF experience I’ve had so far, and will now be an annual event we’ll partner with the facility to put on.
Activities: Tiara/nails/makeup/face painting station, lunch (provided by Mayo Clinic), bean bags, egg race, dress up race, sidewalk chalk, pictures, fire truck/police car tours, canine demonstration.
