Halloween in Reverse.

By Gita Smith, Senior Administration Officer, Core Bank Loan Production Office talking about giving back to the community in reverse Halloween fashion.

Thursday, October 26th was a day for Core Bank’s Kansas City market staff to give something back to our community. We decided to do a little “Reverse Halloween” action.
Dressed as KC Sports Heroes of the past Jason Moxness, Stacey Huddleston, Alicia Walker, Jen Williams and I loaded up boxes with Halloween goody bags for the children at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Overland Park. Along with the goody bags for the children, parents received a QuickTrip gift card, lip balm, note pad and a pen.
We met babies, pre-schoolers, pre-teens and teens. I must admit, I was a little nervous that my heart would ache at seeing children that are struggling and parents dealing with helping their child. Reality couldn’t have been farther from the truth.
As soon as you walk in the main entrance, you’re surrounded with bright colors, butterflies, flowers and love. The air literally hums with love. You can feel it from the staff as they interact with the children and their families. You can, of course, feel it from the parents, grandparents, siblings and other family members.
We enjoyed working with Erica Logan at Children’s Mercy to make this happen. Children’s Mercy is the only free-standing children’s hospital between St. Louis and Denver. They provide comprehensive care for patients from birth to 21. Children’s Mercy consistently is ranked among the leading children’s hospitals in the nation.
From our perspective the giving of gifts and our time was a little thing. To the children and parents we hope it was a way of saying, “you’re not alone, and someone is thinking of you.”