It was so wonderful to celebrate ECBC’s outstanding group of bedside readers at our CHOC volunteer thank you dinner last night. I feel so blessed to have had such amazing team — current and retired educators, reading experts, psychologists, and librarians — who did the work of our mission in the best way possible. Together, they engaged patients in thousands of hours of bedside read-alouds and gifted tens of thousands of high-quality books. Together, they were able to yield an impressive 70% “yes to reading” rate by patients — 7 out of 10 kiddos saying yes to a read-aloud — which far surpassed the expectations we had at the launching of the program. And more than half of teens and young adults agreed to a read-aloud, truly astounding for this demographic! These impact numbers are incredible and are a testament to the passion and commitment of our volunteers. I am so grateful for this team and will miss them dearly!

One thing that became clear as this group reflected on their time at CHOC is that impact did not only go in the direction of volunteer to patient. The volunteers all shared stories about how the experience of being a bedside reader impacted them personally and added meaning to their life. What an incredibly special thing to hear as we said goodbye!