Zoo critters brighten days for kids at Spectrum Health Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital. Tune in for our latest installment of Wild Wednesdays. Read the full story and see all the fun photos.
Grandville resident Owen Grahm, 8, smiles as he visits with a hedgehog after an early morning surgery at Spectrum Health Helen DeVos Children's Hospital. "This is so cool," Owen said. (Taylor Ballek | Spectrum Health Beat)
Tustin resident Savannah Webster, 5, visits with a hedgehog from John Ball Zoo while sitting in her hospital bed at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital, where she's undergoing treatment for kidney failure. (Taylor Ballek | Spectrum Health Beat)
John Ball Zoo volunteers Betty Sobel, 75, left, and Sunny Sjaarda, 78, wait in an elevator with their animals on Wednesday while heading to another floor inside Spectrum Health Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital. “We don't even get to socialize that much,” Sobel said. “We have too many things to do. So this is our day." (Taylor Ballek | Spectrum Health Beat)
Cadillac resident MacKale McGuire, 12, smiles as he watches a hedgehog curl up into a ball at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital, where he's being treated for osteosarcoma cancer and hemophilia. He celebrates his last week of chemotherapy. (Taylor Ballek | Spectrum Health Beat)
A dove was among the John Ball Zoo animals that visited Helen DeVos Children's Hospital. (Taylor Ballek | Spectrum Health Beat)
Savannah Webster, 5, places her pink toy bird next to the dove held by volunteer Sunny Sjaarda. "I have a birdie, too," Savannah said. (Taylor Ballek | Spectrum Health Beat)
Whitehall resident Lucas Champoux, 17, goes eye-to-eye with a hedgehog at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital, where he's being treated for an autoimmune disease called myasthenia gravis. (Taylor Ballek | Spectrum Health Beat)
John Ball Zoo has partnered with Helen DeVos Children's Hospital since 1985 through the Child Life program. "I've been a part of it ever since it started and have enjoyed every minute of it," said Sunny Sjaarda, 78. (Taylor Ballek | Spectrum Health Beat)
Savannah Webster, 5, smiles as she tilts her head to look at a dove from John Ball Zoo. "It's so soft," she said. (Taylor Ballek | Spectrum Health Beat)
A hedgehog was one of the two John Ball Zoo animals that visited Helen DeVos Children's Hospital. (Taylor Ballek | Spectrum Health Beat)
Grand Rapids resident Malik Kirkwood, 20, visits with a hedgehog at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital, where he's being treated for sickle cell anemia. (Taylor Ballek | Spectrum Health Beat)
Allendale resident Landon Janiszewski, 5, visits with a hedgehog at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital, where he's being treated for brain cancer. "You pet him, dad," Landon said to his father. (Taylor Ballek | Spectrum Health Beat)
"It's so exciting when you get children that know something about animals," Sobel said. "We could use them to go around from room to room to talk about the animals." (Taylor Ballek | Spectrum Health Beat)
Laughter, volunteering and a love of animals have been the key ingredients to 75-year-old Betty Sobel and 78-year-old Sunny Sjaarda’s long-lasting friendship.
The two volunteer at John Ball Zoo and participate in the Spectrum Health Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital program through Child Life, which allows them to visit on the first Wednesday of every month with two to three different animals.
Sobel and Sjaarda recently visited the children with an African pygmy hedgehog and a dove. Smiles and giggles spread throughout the floors as the children were able to meet and pet the animals.
“It has usually just been the two of us doing this for years,” Sobel said. “That time went by quickly though, didn’t it?”
“Not if you look in the mirror,” joked Sjaarda. She has volunteered at the zoo for 39 years and Sobel has contributed 27 years.
The program started in 1985. Sjaarda explains that out of all of the programs offered at the zoo, this one is the “most meaningful.”
Savannah Webster, a 5-year-old from Tustin who is being treated for kidney failure, lit up with excitement when she saw the dove.
“I have a birdie, too,” Savannah said, pulling out a pink toy bird and placing it next to the dove that Sjaarda held.
“It’s so exciting when you get children that know something about animals,” Sobel said. “We could use them to go around from room to room to talk about the animals.”
Sjaarda and Sobel spent the afternoon visiting with the children, laughing with them and sharing their knowledge about the animals.
/a>
/a>
/a>
