A Day In the Life of: The Art Cart

“Some of the staff call me ‘Mary Poppins’ because of the accent,” laughs Topsy Bauchop, one of Packard Children’s favorite volunteers. But instead of a “bottomless carpetbag” Topsy has something even more magical: The Art Cart! Thanks to generous support from the Stanford Federal Credit Union, patients can enjoy a variety of art activities and receive one-on-one attention in the comfort of their hospital rooms. Watch the video here:

[Video Transcript]

Topsy Bauchop, Volunteer: My name is Topsy. As you can tell I’m not a native of these shores. I came from England five years ago, and for most of that time I have been volunteering here in the children’s hospital.

For the first few weeks I found it quite hard because you have to go and knock on doors, and you don’t know who you’re going to meet. There are some very sick children here, and some very happy children, so you just don’t know every time you knock on a door what challenge you’re going to meet.

Debra Monzack, Child Life Specialist: It’s a great program, it’s kind of near and dear to my heart because I started the program here. It makes me feel really satisfied to see how it’s spread all over the hospital and how people love it. The nurses ask about the program, “When’s The Art Cart coming?”, and the kids ask for it.

We try to buy a higher quality of materials, so it’s really something special for the kids when it comes to each room. And the other thing is the volunteers get to spend some extra time with kids, too. So they really get some individual attention, one-on-one with a volunteer.

Topsy Bauchop, Volunteer: I think one of the most recent [memorable experiences] is with a little boy. I didn’t really know much about him, and I went in and he had his hand over his mouth. And I said, “Are you smiling?”, and he sort of started giggling. I didn’t really think anything of it — he seemed to me just to be a very giggly, happy little boy.

But apparently I found out later that he didn’t smile for anyone else. So, things like that make it such a treat to come here.