Cards 4 Kids
Create moments of joy and build a supportive community for pediatric patients at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital through interactive, fun, and accessible sports-inspired activities.
Overview: Through accessible sports-centered activities such as trading cards, art, educational games, and catch, Cards 4 Kids is committed to spreading the joy of sports and making kids feel like kids, not patients. Our volunteers, who are integral to the delivery of our activities, foster deep connections by running interactive, fun sessions that are tailored to each child’s interests and ability. Each event is carefully designed to facilitate personal connections and meaningful bonding between pediatric patients and Stanford students and athletes. Our programming caters to young patients aged two to eighteen and is structured around weekly events that last one hour per child during the academic year. These events maintain an ideal volunteer-to-child ratio, typically one to two volunteers per child, to ensure personalized attention and interaction. All of our activities are flexible and adaptive, taking into account each child’s health conditions, abilities, and ongoing treatment plans to ensure their safety and comfort.
Volunteer Opportunities: Volunteers can engage in a variety of roles within our organization. Every volunteer will join weekly events where they run various interactive, engaging, and accessible sports-related activities with pediatric patients. In addition to direct patient interaction, volunteers will have the opportunity to serve on one of several committees including events, volunteering, membership, media/marketing, and finance/outreach. This structure allows each volunteer to contribute both at our events and behind the scenes, enhancing our club’s impact and extending our reach into the community. The volunteer application process occurs annually during Fall Quarter. Due to training and hospital onboarding, we can only accept new members during this time.
Location and Engagement: ~3 hours a week commitment throughout the academic year. Volunteers will engage in weekly in-person activities with patients at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital or Ronald McDonald House at Stanford with additional special events throughout the year. Volunteers will also be expected to attend weekly 1 hour team meetings for patient interaction training, guest speakers, and community-building.
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