An Ordinary Day for District Kiwanians and Their Foundation
by Don Schroeder, Trustee, Heart of Virginia Region

"It's just another ordinary day," Jennifer remarked as our little group huddled in one corner of the over-occupied Kiwanis Family Care Center at VCU-MCV Hospital in Richmond. For Jenni-fer and the pediatric trauma staff perhaps that Tuesday, October 28, was just another ordinary afternoon. Our little group consisted of the Capital District Foundation Trustees PLG Roy Sheets (Division 4) and PLG Jim O'Connell (Division 18) along with Don Schroeder, the Trustee for the Heart of Virginia Region. The hostess for our visit was Ms. Jennifer O'Rourke, the Director of Development at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical College of Virginia (VCU-MCV) Children's Medical Center.

PLG Roy Sheets had arranged a meeting to present the Capital District Foundation's annual check to the VCU-MCV Pediatric Trauma Center. It was to be an ordinary presentation. After all, such presentations had been made numerous times before. We stood in a corner of the Ki-wanis Family Care Center waiting for the heads of the Pediatric Center to arrive. The Kiwanis Family Care Center was crowded. Standing room only! As one surveyed the surroundings, one realized how valuable the Family Care Center is. Members of individual families closely min-gled and chatted among themselves as they sipped on their soft drinks and spasmodically chewed on cold French fries or quarter-pounders. Laughter and bantering was not evident this day. Within our earshot, we heard one mother, with choking voice, tell her intimate group her son had taken a turn for the worst. Yes, maybe it was just an ordinary day in the Kiwanis Family Care Center.

"You can't imagine what this room means to our families. I don't know how we can thank Kiwanis for helping our families and our children," Jennifer softly told us. She went on to say, "I think we need to wait out on the hall. One of the families needs our space."

Just another ordinary day at one of the seven pediatric trauma centers our Capital District Kiwanians support through our Foundation. An ordinary day filled with extraordinary significance. At VCU-MCV, an ordinary day with unheralded and immeasurable extraordinary quality of caregiving in a relatively small 600 square foot room labeled the "Kiwanis Family Care Center." An ordinary day where extraordinary family support silently occurs thanks to the Kiwanians in the Heart of Virginia who actualized their commitment to "Serving the Children of the World" with an ordinary room filled with chairs, tables, sofas, TVs, work stations, re-frigerator, microwave, and a washer-and-dryer.

Yes, Jennifer, it was an ordinary day at the Kiwanis Family Care Center. But for the three of us Kiwanians who were fortunate enough to savor it for 30 minutes, it was more than extraordi-nary. It was KIWANIS! Pictured (L to R) HOV Trustee Don Schroeder, PLG Jim O'Connell, Ms. Jennifer O'Rourke (VCU-MCV), and PLG Roy Sheets.