Reprinted with permission,
Courtesy, Asbury Park Press, a Gannett Co. newspaper.
BY
MICHELLE GLADDEN
ASBURY PARK PRESS STAFF WRITER
|
.
- Nahdirah
Huff of Asbury Park brought her grandmother Hattie along for
moral support when she went to Monmouth Medical Center, Long
Branch, on Thursday.
It was the 13-year-old's first time touring a hospital, and
she was hoping to see how things were really run, not what she
had seen on television.
"I want to be a pediatrician," she said before her tour of the
hospital's pediatric unit began. "I want to see what the job
entails. I want to actually see what they are doing to help the
children."
Nahdirah was one of nine Asbury Park kids to participate in
the event, sponsored by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Monmouth
County, Eatontown.
"The kids will have an opportunity to learn about careers in
medicine and, at the same time, the staff and the community will
get to meet the kids and learn about the (Big Brothers Big Sisters)
program," said Debbi Heptig, executive director.
"We currently have 100 kids on the waiting list," she said.
Heptig said there are three programs: a school-based program
where children are refered by school counselors and teachers;
the community-based program for children who come from a one-parent
home; and the kids club program, where volunteers work with kids
who are waiting to be partnered with an adult.
To qualify, volunteers need only be 21 or older, she said. After
filling out an application, the intake process begins: interviews,
passing the background and DMV checks and completion of training.
The adult is matched with a child based on criteria and compatibility.
"We then get parent approval," Heptig said. "But the child has
the final say."
As the tour began, Nahdirah walked alongside her case manger
of three years, Sandi Mangino, who acts as a liaison between
the child and his or her sponsor.
"I'm there to help foster their relationship," she said. "I'm
there to deal with any problems that may arise and to help set
up any support services that might be needed."
Through Mangino's help Nahdirah was able to join a gymnastics
class and is also learning to play the piano.
But for today, her eyes and ears were on Monmouth Medical Center's
material manager, Jason Cummings, as he led the tour of the emergency
room's pediatric unit. As Cummings explained the various functions
of the machines and equipment in the room, Nahdirah and 14-year-old
Darrell Snip of Asbury Park watched with interest.
Darrell, who volunteered to be a patient in a mock exercise
to show how a blood pressure and EKG machine works, said he hopes
to get into the the forensics field some day.
At lunch, Nahdirah met up with her grandmother, who had been
volunteering at the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Monmouth County
booth in front of Monmouth Medical Center's cafeteria.
As they ate, Nahdirah explained the different things she had
learned from Cummings.
[ top ] [ back to
2006 News Index ] |
