Mar 12, 2008 9:05 pm US/Pacific
Granting "Little Wishes" for Hospitalized Kids
Jefferson Award Winner: Laura Euphrat
(CBS 5)
She's a song leader, a supporter, and a one-woman powerhouse.
Here's how young patients describe nurse Laura Euphrat:
"Oh my God, she's hecka positive, energetic. She just comes in a room and brightens it up!" says Faeda Yemane.
"Laura is the singing nurse. She's one of my favorites. I've known her since I was really little," adds Olivia Davis.
For eighteen years, Laura has been brightening the stays of families who come to the pediatric unit at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco.
"I love to go in and just be myself and be crazy," Laura says. "I love to sing and I love to dance and I love to make people laugh."
Laura's committed to making the littlest patients' stay in the hospital more comfortable, and that's was the driving force for her to create a non-profit called Little Wishes, something she and fellow nurse Joanne Devantes started in honor of a special little boy.
Laura explains, Josh was eight years old and he was diagnosed with liver cancer and he came to our hospital to be treated and stayed with us many days."
Days turned to months, and for Josh it was the little things the nurses did that made the biggest difference.
"The idea just sort of popped into my head, what about the little wishes?" says Laura. "What about little things for kids in hospitals to bring them happiness and keep their mind off of their pain and ease their fears?"
In the five years since Laura and her friends started this non profit, over three thousand "Little Wishes" have been granted and now the program is expanding to other hospitals.
Children who are in the hospital for over a week, or are chronically ill, qualify for a wish. They tell the nurses what little comfort would make their day.
Thirteen-year-old Olivia Davis has to visit the hospital yearly as part of her treatment for cystic fibrosis. She's had several wishes fulfilled over the years, from a sushi dinner, to cd's, even a play-date with a dog.
"I love Little Wishes because its something to look forward to when you go into the hospital," Olivia says. "So it's not this dreary time where you have to sit around and do nothing. It's just something to look forward to."
Olivia's mother says the program helps the parents as well:
"It's a wonderful thing," says Sara Pearson. "It just makes a huge difference to know that everybody's helping and everybody is on your side and it really helps a lot."
Pictures of past wishes --- of princess days, make-overs, pirate costumes -- line the bulletin board.. And two to three times a week, the sounds nurses making their singing presentations fill the hallways.
Laura leads the effort to raise the $150,000 cost of meeting these wishes every year.
"I think something magical happens with them and even the sickest of patients will smile," she says.
So for helping to bring smiles to children and their families facing adversity, this weeks Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Laura Euphrat.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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