Upstate Golisano Children's Hospital - Big Red Thon's Local Children's Miracle Network Hospital

Hi Everyone!

I am participating in Cornell University’s Big Red THON! This is my third year participating and my second year on the executive board as Head of Fundraising. I wanted to take a moment to share with you the reason I joined Thon and the reasons I stay with this amazing organization.  

Beginning in my sophomore year of high school, I began spending every Sunday morning from 9am to noon at my local children’s hospital, St. Louis Children’s Hospital, in the Patient Playroom. The kids I got the opportunity to work with were incredible because they always showed me the importance of having gratitude for the little things in life.

One of my favorite stories was from the very first kid I got to sit and play with. I sat with him while his mom and aunt went to get lunch. He was just the cutest kid and after sitting and helping him color a card for his mom with him for a bit, he insisted we introduce ourselves. It went something like this:

               “Hi, I’m _______” (name withheld because of HIPAA)

               “Hi, I’m Elizabeth”

               “You’re the best!”

               “No, you’re the best!”

And after that I received a big hug. I had just been with this kid for maybe ten minutes at this point and here he was saying that I was the best. We actually had this conversation twice in the hour I sat with him. This kid, despite being far from his home and stuck in a hospital bed, cared about giving back to his mom and about lifting people up who he barely knew. He is the epitome of one of my favorite lessons I learned from volunteering: it’s the little things in life that matter the most.

These kids are the reason I joined Thon and the reason I have continued to be involved with this organization. I dance for the kids I knew for a day and the ones I knew for months. I dance for the kids who have won their batters, the kids who are still fighting, and the kids who are no longer with us. I am dancing for a world without pediatric illness, because every kid deserves to grow up happy and healthy.

The kids I worked with at St. Louis Children’s, like many of the hospitalized kids across the country including those at Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital, have benefited from the child life program at their hospital. Programs like these help ensure childhood experiences, like doing crafts and coloring, is not lost in hospitalization. Unfortunately, many times these programs, like the one at Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital, are funded through donations. Your donation to Big Red Thon helps to keep child life programs in hospitals and helps ensure that even a hospitalization cannot take away a kid’s childhood.

I truly appreciate any amount you can give. Every dollar makes a difference!

For the Kids!

Elizabeth Bundschuh

Image from our 2019 executive board's visit to Upstate Golisano Children's Hospital.