ROGERS, Ark. — Northwest Arkansas high school students made a surprise gift donation to families inside the Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for the holiday season.
Through an arrangement between Mercy and the Friendship Community Care’s Pathway to Employment JobPath program, six students from Bentonville and Rogers area high schools can visit various units within the hospital in addition to performing their job duties. The tours are meant to showcase future career paths.
The students recently toured the NICU.
“They were so moved by the experience they felt they had to do something,” said Mercy NWA Senior Media Relations & Communications Specialist, Nate Kuester.
Students met with their advisor and nurses at the NICU looking for ways to help. They were encouraged to speak to the March of Dimes, who gave them a variety of ideas.
That led students to create "sibling packs" filled with crayons, puzzles, snacks and more.
“These kids are special. They care a lot. You can see that they will be excellent care providers in their future,” Kuester said.
The packs are created for the young brothers and sisters to pass time while waiting at the hospital as their newborn siblings get the help and care they need.
“Your heart goes out to them, especially during the holiday season. These families would rather be in the nursery at home,” said Laura Smith, Community Employment Manager with Friendship Community Care.
Smith says she couldn’t be prouder of the students.
“They spent their money and their paycheck on the supplies,” she said. “We talked about fundraising opportunities and they said 'absolutely not, this is something we want to do ourselves,’ so, out of the care of their hearts and wallets they paid for it.”
“I was actually surprised because in years past we’ve had some great kids come through, but we haven’t had anyone step up to this kind of involvement,” said Joshua Austin, supply chain manager at Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas. “Once they got the idea during their tour of the NICU it was all they could talk about.”
The group of student interns presented the sibling packs to the NICU staff just in time for the holidays.
Autumn Morris, a senior at Rogers High School, says the opportunity to bring a little joy to NICU families was special.
“I really like helping and putting smiles on people’s faces, and it just makes me happy seeing other people happy,” Morris said.
Members of the Mercy NICU team thanked the interns.
“I think it’s so impactful, what they’re doing by helping in the community,” said NICU neonatal nurse practitioner Heather Newell. “It’s so uplifting to see their excitement for being in the medical field, and it will really brighten the holidays for a lot of these kids that have siblings here in the NICU.”
The act of kindness is a blessing to all involved.
“Their thoughtfulness, their resourcefulness was something that struck us all, right in the heart. It was great to see that,” Kuester said.