Our Highlights

2020 Volunteer of the Year- Walter

7 April 2021

Meet Walter. He has been volunteering with enCourage Kids for over 10 years and was recently awarded the enCourage Kids Volunteer of the Year for 2020. His dedication and passion for our mission are unparalleled and we are grateful to have him as a part of our community. Outside of donating his time, Walter also provides generous financial and in-kind contributions through his company, My Paint By Numbers.

Walter has taken to heart how traumatizing a hospital admission could be for children and how it can affect their emotional well-being. He aims to help reduce the loneliness, fear, and anxiety children often experience during a hospital stay and he continues to donate thousands of Paint by Numbers kits to help pediatric patients experience joy and a measure of normalcy. In addition to his work with Paint by Numbers, he also created a “Kits4Kids” cause marketing initiative that promotes incentives for customers to donate even more kits to the hospitalized children we serve. Walter is our biggest advocate and has done it all with compassion, thoughtfulness, and a beaming smile.

https://mypaintbynumbers.com/pages/kits-4-kids

We asked Walter about his experience volunteering with enCourage Kids and what makes him so dedicated to our work. He says, “I’m passionate about the mission because of how happy the kids and families are with enCourage Kids’ programs. I can only imagine how difficult it is for families at home. I showed up to the weekend away at camp with a bag that can fit as an overhead carry-on. Many of these families had car trunks full of just medical devices they needed to make it through the weekend. It is just wonderful to be able to give the kids and their families respite from the challenges they face. The joy it brings them is palpable and contagious.”

Volunteers like Walter are a huge part of how we carry out our mission. They are an integral part of our organization and we are thankful for their dedication to making hospitals a better place to get better for pediatric patients across the country. If you are interested in learning more about how you can support enCourage Kids, please email Briana Horwich at briana@encourage-kids.org.

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