Volunteering Together - A Pawsitive Program
April 30, 2024When George’s Pal Quinn gets ready for the day, she takes a shower, grabs her leash and hops in the car with her mom, Shannon, to come to Valley Children’s.
Our George’s Pals program is unique and specialized in providing animal-assisted therapy to our patients. All dog volunteers are “good canine citizen certified” and bring an extra dimension to the healing process. Canines and their owners visit patients to provide pet-assisted activities, known to contribute to the healing of sick and injured children. George’s Pals also visit the staff to provide a fun change of pace in the hospital routine.
Life as a Volunteer – Shannon
With two chronically ill daughters, Shannon was inspired to volunteer at Valley Children’s after seeing the comfort and joy that can be brought to patients and families by simply just being there. And getting to volunteer with one of her three fur children, Quinn, is a dream come true.
Being a part of something bigger than herself to make a patient’s stay more positive is why Shannon does what she does. She loves meeting patients with Quinn and being a part of Valley Children’s events, like our Holiday Parade.
When Shannon isn’t volunteering with Quinn, she can be found in our NICU cuddling our tiniest patients. As a NICU cuddler volunteer, Shannon visits our NICU to hold, rock and interact with our NICU babies when their parents can’t be with them at the Hospital.
Life as a Volunteer - Quinn
Quinn LOVES coming to Valley Children’s to visit all her friends – human and canine alike! She gets to meet tons of new faces every day and enjoys seeing people smile when they see her trotting down the hallways of the Hospital. Quinn began volunteering with Valley Children’s in 2023 and hopes to one day work along her son, who is training to be a George’s Pal!
Aside from peanut butter and her stuffed pink unicorn, Quinn’s favorite thing is coming to Valley Children's and being a George’s Pal. Quinn also spreads her volunteer stewardship out to a local elderly community to provide emotional support services. To learn more about Quinn and our George’s Pals program, click here.
About our volunteers
Volunteers are at the heart of the Valley Children’s patient experience, providing crucial support services to the Hospital and at other locations throughout the Valley. More than 500 Valley Children’s volunteers of all ages and 18 canine teams collectively donate approximately 3,500 hours a month to enhance the healing process for patients and families. To learn more about our volunteer opportunities, visit https://www.valleychildrens.org/volunteers/volunteer-opportunities/opportunities-for-volunteers