Like most Junior Volunteers, one of Adrian Riser's favorite aspects of working at Children's Hospital is interacting with patients. Here, he sets up a craft for children to work on in a waiting room.

Teens spend summer volunteering at Children's Hospital

While many teens spend the summer around a pool or traveling to a variety of destinations, each year dozens of teens choose to devote much of their summer vacation time to Children's Hospital.

The Junior Volunteers, who range in age from 14 to 18, can participate in one of several sessions during the eight-week program, resulting in more than 5,000 volunteer hours worked. They can be seen in their signature yellow shirts doing various tasks around the hospital, including helping in the clinics, answering phones at the Information Desk and assisting with miscellaneous office duties.

Adrian Riser, a 17-year-old Bearden High School student, has been a Junior Volunteer for four years. During his time as a volunteer, he has worked with Food and Nutrition Services, Child Life and the Radiology Department. Adrian made meal deliveries to Children's Hospital patients, helped children make arts and crafts in the lobby as they waited and also retrieved and placed X-rays for the radiologists.

Katie Wright, a 17-year-old student at Carter High School and former patient at Children's Hospital, has also been a Junior Volunteer for four years. Some of her responsibilities have included cleaning the playrooms, taking food to patients' rooms and filing paper work in the offices.

Katie Wright, dressed in her scrubs, helps transport a patient to surgery while working as a Junior Volunteer. Throughout her four years as a Junior Volunteer, Katie has helped in many different hospital departments.

Taylor Crosby, 15 years old, attends Alcoa High School and has been a Junior Volunteer for two years; he has stuffed goodie bags to be given out at local schools, handed out art supplies and played board games with patients.

Children's Hospital offers its Junior Volunteers a chance to work in a hospital setting while gaining important community service skills and exploring a variety of health careers. And while volunteering helps build character and work ethic in teenagers, patients also benefit from the program. Both Katie and Taylor said their favorite part of being a Junior Volunteer is making children in the hospital happy by playing games with them in their hospital rooms or while they wait in the Outpatient Clinics.

Some students are drawn to the Junior Volunteer program because it fulfills volunteer requirements for high school graduation or enhances college applications. Even so, many Junior Volunteers gain more than practical work experience from the program. While Adrian does not want to pursue a career in the medical field, he enjoys volunteering at a hospital because he likes helping the patients. Taylor said volunteering helped him learn more about caring and respect, while Katie said she learned how to work with other people at different jobs and enjoyed being able to give back to Children's Hospital.

Katie, who plans to volunteer for another summer, said, "I think this program is amazing. I definitely recommend it to any teen who wants to be involved with great people and have a lot of fun."

To become a Junior Volunteer, teens must be at least 14 years of age and must print out and complete the Junior Volunteer Application and mail it to Children's Hospital Volunteer Services at P.O. Box 15010, Knoxville, TN 37901.

Previous experience working with children is not necessary, but Junior Volunteers must be interested in helping others and meeting new people. If a volunteer meets these requirements, he or she must participate in the interview process and commit to a hospital orientation before volunteering.

Junior Volunteer Taylor Crosby not only fulfills his summer obligation to Children's Hospital but also finds time to volunteer throughout the school year, often at hospital-related events such as the Children's Miracle Network Telethon (pictured here) and the Star 102.1 Radiothon.

Once the summer is over, Junior Volunteers are honored at a special dinner with their parents.

Interested students are encouraged to apply early because of the program's popularity. Applications are accepted through Mid March and interviews take place in April.

For more information on the Junior Volunteer program, contact Judy Caudill in the Children's Hospital Volunteer Services and Resources Department at (865) 541-8136 or send an email to jcaudill@etch.com.