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ELKINS -- The GFWC Woman's Club of Elkins is bringing the Jared Box Project to Davis Medical Center's young emergency department patients, and is calling on others in the community to join in and donate supplies.
Thanks to an innovative collaboration between the GFWC Woman's Club of Elkins and Davis Medical Center, young patients in the emergency department can ease anxiety with a Jared Box.
A Jared Box is a plastic shoe-sized storage box filled with small gifts, toys, games, crayons, coloring books and fun activities meant to entertain and relax younger patients who might be extremely anxious during their visit to the hospital's emergency department. All items are donated by members of the community.
"The emergency department can be a scary place for our young patients," said Kristi Moehrle, MHA, BSN, RN, Director of Emergency Services for Davis Medical Center. "The Jared Boxes are a wonderful and fun diversion for our little patients."
The Women's Club, which has been participating in local, state and national projects for over 100 years, "brought the project to us," said Tracy Fath, Vice President of Marketing & Development at Davis Medical Center. "They saw an opportunity and it really has worked well."
"The project has been very well received by members of the Women's Club," said former president of the Elkins Women's Club Cindy Stemple. "And the hospital was very excited to get the project going."
Stemple and Dr. Mary Boyd introduced the project to the Women's Club.
Stemple had first learned about the project from her daughter, who had contributed to the Jared Box Project in Pennsylvania. Her daughter also helped her get in contact with Cindy Kolarik, the executive director of The Jared Box Project. Kolarik sent Stemple and the Women's Club several pre-made and empty boxes to help them get the project started after Christmas.
The Jared Box Project began in 2000 following the death of 5-year old Jared McMullen from State College, Pennsylvania. Jared, who spent a lot of time in hospitals during his treatment for a brain stem tumor, brought a backpack of games, toys and activities to his appointments. Upon his passing, Jared's classmates honored him by initiating the Jared Box Project. They collected donated activity boxes which were distributed to children visiting the Geisinger Medical Center.
Today, hospitals in all 50 states participate in the program, with over one million boxes being distributed to hundreds of healthcare facilities. Davis Medical Center is the 10th hospital in the state to receive Jared Boxes, along with Berkeley Medical Center in Martinsburg, Boone Memorial Hospital in Madison, Cabell Huntington Hospital, Grafton City Hospital, Jefferson Medical Center in Ranson, United Hospital Center in Bridgeport, Women's and Children's Hospital in Charleston, and Mon Health and WVU Medicine Children's Hospital in Morgantown.
The boxes have become a very big hit at Davis Medical Center, yet supplies for the boxes are dwindling. Moehrle said supplies are needed on a continued basis.
"We hope individuals and other community groups will donate items to keep the supply of Jared Boxes coming. They are really well-received by the patients and their parents," she said.
The Elkins Women's Club is also helping other organizations join in on the project. Stemple said the Women's Club will be meeting with the Rotary Club of Elkins later this month to get them involved.
"Anyone who wants to help is more than welcome to. The Women's Club is happy to come and help get them started," said Stemple.
If your organization would like to join the Jared Box Project, Stemple asks that you contact her at 304-641-0751.
Anyone interested in the Jared Box Project can contact the DHS Foundation at 304-630-3043, or visit the GFWC Woman's Club of Elkins page on Facebook. You can also learn more at thejaredbox.com.