Summerville, SC - This week, volunteers at Summerville Medical Center received a hard-earned donation from a young member of the community.
Madison Pittman presented volunteers Shirley Schulz and Karen Heiman with a monetary donation to support their initiatives for Pediatric patients at Summerville Medical Center.
Pittman, a senior at Faith Christian School in Summerville, felt called to the medical field after spending time as a Junior Volunteer in the surgery department at Summerville Medical in 2014. “I fell in love with being at the hospital,” Pittman reminisced.
When given the opportunity to complete a senior project she decided to combine her love of athletics and medicine by hosting the 5K 4 Kids, a run designed to raise money to support hospital Pediatric programs. She and her sister started planning the July 31st event in March of last year. The event pulled in around 100 participants and raised $2,800 dollars.
Pittman admitted hosting a 5K was more work than she expected. “Publicizing the event was one of the hardest parts. I worked on publicizing it every day.”
Summerville Medical Center, a 94-bed hospital in Summerville, South Carolina, opened their dedicated Pediatric Emergency Room in 2013 and opened an inpatient Pediatric unit the following year. Shirley Schulz reads to Pediatric patients twice a week and Karen Heiman donates bears dressed in colorfully knit outfits to children in the Pediatric Emergency Room or preparing for surgery. CEO Lisa Valentine recognized the impact Pittman’s efforts will have on children receiving care at the hospital.
“Our Pediatric patient volumes have increased year over year since the Pediatric ER opened,” stated Valentine. Our Peds volunteers have such a positive impact on the patient experience. We are honored to have individuals like Ms. Pittman in our community who want to give back.”
Pittman plans to attend Liberty University after graduating from Faith Christian School this spring. She hopes to entrust the 5K 4 Kids to another upcoming senior.