It’s here! Many of you helped to make last year’s Free Parking Day benefiting families at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta –– a first for us –– a huge success. Volunteers from helloHOPE spent the day on June 28, 2017 at the Scottish Rite and Egleston campus parking decks handing out lollipops and letting families know that their parking was covered for the day. The response from patient families was truly beautiful! In fact, if you haven’t had a chance to watch last year’s recap video, you can watch it here.
We are thrilled to have the opportunity to bring Free Parking Day back in 2018, and we invite you to join us!
There are two significant ways that paying for parking makes a difference in someone’s life. This first is the fact that medical journeys can be isolating and difficult. It can be easy to feel alone and overwhelmed. But as you know by now, we want families to know that they are not alone, that a diagnosis doesn’t define them, and that their story matters. The simple act of paying for someone’s parking and being present at the moment they leave the parking deck is a way to help them remember that they are not alone and that provision can come from the most unexpected places.
The second reason that we love paying for families’ parking came from something we learned from our conversations with nurses. Many parents –– especially those who have been staying at the hospital for a while –– feel like they can’t run errands or go get a coffee with their spouse because of the parking costs. On Free Parking Day last year, nurses were able to encourage parents to take a break or have a few minutes away because the parking cost barrier was removed.
The small gesture of paying for parking might be just the pick-me-up that someone needs to hold onto hope for the day.
We’ve set our goal at $6,000 for this campaign, which will enable us to pay for the parking for every car that goes through the Egleston and Scottish Rite campus decks on June 7, 2018.
The crowd-funding platform this year allows donations from $10 and up, and every contribution helps and makes a practical difference for another family.
Will you join us? Let’s spread hope!
We also want to thank Tim Harman of http://www.harmanandhall.com for the video production!