Aurora-Children

Today was our final day of volunteering at Children's Hospital Colorado. It was an emotional day for our trip as we have grown attached to the children at the hospital. Throughout this week, we have truly lived the ASB principle of poco a poco which means little by little. Although we were only at the hospital for four days, we were able to make an impact on each child we interacted with. We had the opportunity to make a difference within the hospital because all of the services for siblings rely on volunteers. Had ASB not been there, there would not have been staff to run the sibling programming.

We had several touching stories occur today but one in particular stands out. We met a ten year old who was so forthcoming about her brother having cancer. He has had cancer for 15 years and it has consumed the lives of everyone in her family. However, she is the most caring individual we have encountered and had such a positive outlook on life. We have seen so many siblings who are forced to grow up so fast due to illnesses from their relatives. While these children might not have had normal childhoods, we have been blown away by how mature and personable these children are. We have also realized the importance of siblings as they serve as a built in support system for their brother or sister that has a medical condition.

Tonight we concluded by exploring downtown Denver and eating at a restaurant nearby Washington Park. After our night, we came home and began writing letters to each other. As the ASB Aurora family, we are writing a letter to every person on the trip and reminiscing on how great the week has been. We will read these letters when we get back to Columbia tomorrow evening once we all separate. We are so grateful for the time we had in Aurora and are glad we got to serve this community.

Thank you for reading about our trip!

Love,

ASB Aurora