Thanksgiving at Medical University of South Carolina Children's Hospital

Medical University Children's Hospital in Charleston, South Carolina, will once again be treated to Thanksgiving dinner. The preparations are in place for Thanksgiving dinner to be served at MUSC's Children Hospital. For the fifth year in a row, community sponsors have come together to serve a full holiday meal to the parents and family members that are spending their Thanksgiving at the hospital with their child. The doctors and nurses of the Children's Hospital are also invited to enjoy dinner as a thank you for the long hours and wonderful care they provide to sick and injured children.

Although this dinner is in its fifth year, it is a non-publicized event, it isn't served as a means of publicity - it is served out of gratitude. The brainchild of a mother whose son's life was saved by the Children's Hospital and supported by her employer and fellow employees, and many restaurants and local businesses in the community, this dinner has served upwards of 300 people and hopes to continue to serve more.

Having been the parent who lived every moment in the parent's waiting room for weeks on end, this mother knows how difficult it is to financially survive. Eating meals in the cafeteria downstairs becomes expensive, for some people there is just not enough money to stretch in every direction.

Thanksgiving at the Children's Hospital is a time to give thanks for the doctors and nurses who spend so many of their holidays tending to sick children. It is a time for the family members of the sick children to take a brief moment to breathe and enjoy a hot, home cooked meal and the fellowship of others who share similar circumstances.

Some of these families never leave the hospital, they are strangers in Charleston. They have nowhere to go for a moment of respite; no one to talk with when they feel scared. Over time bonds are formed in that waiting room as they encourage each other with prayers and kind words. They will spend days and nights with each other, it only seems right that they share a meal together.

Although one meal is not going to solve their problems, it does let them know that people care. There are also other volunteer programs that come in and bring food at other times throughout the year. Giving back to the hospital and sharing a meal with families who are in a difficult situation make Thanksgiving a truly thankful day.