Teen Volunteers Compile Activity Books for Hospitalized Children

Seven teenage volunteers gathered at the on Thursday, January 12, to compile activity booklets for children who are patients at Inova Fairfax Hospital for Children.

The activity sheets, which include word puzzles, mazes, picture games and Sudoku, will give hospitalized children something fun to do, according to Teen Librarian Kathleen Britto, who was supervising the volunteers.

“We’re trying to make their days a little brighter,” she told the teens, as she gave them instructions on how to compile and decorate the booklets.  

Britto said that she had heard that children’s hospitals wanted volunteers to send cards to the young patients. But when she reached out to Inova Fairfax Hospital for Children, she was told that what the children really need is something to do during long periods of waiting. So she decided that compiling booklets of activity sheets would be a good volunteer activity for Leesburg teens.

“We have a lot of interest in volunteering in this community,” Britto said, noting that some students are required to complete volunteer activities for a class they are taking, or for a club.

She said that the library is a popular site for teen volunteers.

“A lot of kids just like to volunteer," Britto said. "This is one activity we promote to them.”

Britto said that the library organized a similar activity for teen volunteers about a year ago.

Jordan Kirk, a junior at , said that she had just signed up to be a regular volunteer at the library, “shelving and doing whatever they need me to do” – not because it was a requirement, but because “it was just something I wanted to do.”

This was also the first volunteer activity at the library for Maren Turner, a student at . She was busy decorating the cover of her book with a picture of a smiling female character and the words, “Be Proud!”