New club Patriots 4 Kids provides an opportunity for student service hours

Gabby Albright, Staff Writer

Juniors Annabel Everett and Graze Welzenbach just recently started a club called Patriots 4 Kids.

The club was created to work with young children who are sick and in the hospital. Projects may range from donating toys to visiting hospitals to having game nights.
Junior Grace Welzenbach said, “The inspiration for starting this club was the Romero Service Club. We loved what the club did and how it is all about service, but instead of doing all different types of service we wanted to focus on one specific group of people and place.”
This club provides a good chance for students to be able to help kids in local hospitals and be able to do lots of service. The first meeting time has not been decided yet although it will either be the first or third Wednesday of each month.
The club is trying to work with the Pediatric Center at Upper Chesapeake and the Ronald McDonald House in Baltimore. The Upper Chesapeake Pediatric Center takes care of sick children and houses them right there in the facility. Their mission is to give kids and parents a nice environment to stay in while receiving treatment from their medical staff.
The Ronald McDonald House is a world-wide organization that houses families with sick children. They have had thousands of volunteers work with them, and 1.4 million families stay overnight in at least one of their facilities. Every house is near a hospital, so medical care can be close and easily accessible to everyone living there.
Knowing these organizations provides a good understanding of the purpose for Patriots 4 Kids.
These children have a lot going on from tons of hospital visits to surgeries in addition to having their parents and siblings go through this with them.
Being there to support these amazing people and make their day better is an amazing thing to do, and that is why, Grace, the group’s founder, said that their goal “is to help brighten the kids’ day and make their hospital experience better than expected.”