As future healthcare professionals, the students at the Ross Medical Education Center campus in Brighton, Michigan know that being in the hospital can be difficult. It can be especially wearing on children and their families. No matter what you do, being in a room or even in a bed for extended periods of time can be hard! In order to help alleviate some of this pressure, this summer everyone at Ross in Brighton teamed up with Kid Flicks.
Students, faculty, and staff all joined in by donating DVDs of children’s movies to Kid Flicks. This organization was founded back in 2002 by four women who decided to turn their Spring cleaning items into treasures for children’s hospitals and long term care facilities. The foundation takes these used DVDs and then helps to set up movie libraries in various facilities.
As stated on the foundation’s website, “Initially, we delivered the ‘movie libraries’ to hospitals in Southern California. When we had covered every hospital within a five-hour round-trip radius, we began applying for grants and awards to help cover the costs of shipping the ‘libraries’ to other cities and states.” It all started when the founders heard from a friend that movies were what she used to pass the time while undergoing treatment for leukemia.
As of this summer, their website shares that Kid Flicks has now donated over 115,000 movies to more than 1000 hospitals. These movies are used to help children from toddlers to teenagers get their minds off of their illness for awhile and on to something a little bit more enjoyable. The Brighton campus was excited to donate 35 gently used DVDs to be enjoyed by kids and families. “Whenever I was feeling sick or when my children are not feeling well, watching a good movie is always very comforting and distracting so it’s great to help others get the same kind of comfort,” shared Christina Morrison, a student in the morning Medical Insurance Billing and Office Administration class.
If you are interested in donating or finding out more about this organization, visit the Kid Flicks Facebook page or their website at www.kidflicks.org.