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2 The Bakersfield Californian Sunday, November 18, 2012 Share stories, photos, blogs ■ Submitting your stories for The Bakersfield Voice is simple and FREE! Just go to: bakersfieldvoice.com and create a profile. ■ Choose what you’d like to contribute (an article, letter, picture or community event listing) and post it yourself. ■ Still need help getting your contributions onto our website? E-mail Sandra Molen at [email protected] ■ Circulation: If you would like to receive our weekly publication or cancel delivery, please e- mail: [email protected] or call 392-5777. Be sure to include your request, con- tact information and address. BY MELISSA TAYLOR Community contributor M y daughter, Maddie Tay- lor, 10, was taken by ambulance to San Joaquin Community Hospital’s emergency room on a recent Sunday morning after she com- plained of severe stomach pain, and had been running a fever off and on for three days. When we arrived at the hospital, the paramedics and team of nurses got her into the emergency room, hooked her up to an IV to relieve her pain and keep her hydrat- ed. The doctor came in and had blood and urine tests done to find out what was going on with her. After a short period of time, the doctor came back and said she needed to have her appendix removed. Maddie was scheduled to have sur- gery that same afternoon. She was so brave and said, “If this is causing all my pain, I don’t want it in my body anymore, so I want the surgery to make me feel better.” Maddie’s dad and I were amazed by how courageous she was, and how well she handled every single situation that she faced that day. We were also very grateful for the kind, and compassion- ate care Maddie received during her hospital stay. When Maddie was about to be trans- ported before the operation we noticed that the transporting employee had a badge on her scrub that said: “Need prayer? Just ask me.” My husband said: “That is so cool what your badge says — do you get asked for prayer a lot?” “No, you are my first one,” the trans- porter said. “I have never been asked." The nurse who had been taking care of Maddie in emergency room said, “I’ll pray.” So we all took each other’s hands as the nurse prayed over Maddie. My husband and I were very impressed and felt such peace — and we knew Maddie was in really good hands. The moments that abruptly put your life on pause are the moments that I can look at and say how precious our lives really are, and remind myself to not take one single day for granted. During Maddie’s recovery at San Joaquin, she received a quilt hand- made by Project Linus, a nonprofit group of volunteers from the commu- nity who gather and make quilts. They pray over the quilts while they are making them and donate them to the hospital to give to young babies and children. We learned there is also a pet ther- apy program called "Our pet partner program,” and several cheerful, kind hospital staff members who helped Maddie stay in good spirits during her stay, and encouraged her to get up and move around after her surgery. Mad- die was offered a chance to paint with a volunteer from the Arts Council of Kern through the hospital’s ArtCare Program. Through that program, San Joaquin and the Arts Council of Kern help bring healing through art and music. Maddie jumped at the chance to paint — and it was an excellent dis- traction from the pain she was experi- encing. Later that day, we found out that Maddie’s painting was chosen to be in the 2013 San Joaquin calendar, and her painting will be featured for the month of June. All the proceeds of the sale of the calendars go towards the cancer center at the hospital. The programs at San Joaquin helped us as a family, and kept our minds focused on the positives while being cooped up in a hospital. We feel very blessed to have had the experi- ence that Maddie and our family had at the hospital. The staff is compas- sionate, caring, loving, and extremely patient. We are so grateful for all they did. BY ALICIA HAMMONS Community contributor F ruitvale Junior High School’s advanced drama class is pre- senting its five-year anniversary performance of Charles Dick- ens’ “A Christmas Carol” at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 30, in the school’s multipurpose room, 2114 Calloway Drive. Doors will open at 6:05 p.m. Cost is $6 for adults, and $4 for chil- dren 14 and under, or Fruitvale stu- dents. Dickens wrote his “little carol” pri- marily to address the poverty of Eng- land’s poor. At the time, many were trying to make the bakers close their shops on Sundays. This infuriated Dickens because many poor families took their Sunday meals to the bakers to be roasted. Closing the shops would have deprived many of their only hot meal of the week. In addition, most funerals at this time were for children under the age of 10. Those who did survive grew up poor, without an education and were forced to continue the cycle of poverty. Many of Dickens’ characters were based on his real-life family members, including his sister, Fan, and her crip- pled son. “A Christmas Carol' tells the story of a mean and bitter miser, Ebenezer Scrooge. Scrooge is not sensitive to the plight of the poor and doesn’t care about anyone but himself. In the course of one night, he is visited by the spirit of his former business partner, and three other spirits who try to urge Scrooge to become a better man and to care for others. In the spirit of this great tale, and to ensure that no one in our community goes hungry this holiday season, Fruit- vale is asking everyone who attends to bring one can of soup for the soup drive. A $1 discount for the show will be given to each person who brings a can of soup the night of the perform- ance (limit one discount per person). Please come and enjoy the terrific production, and have a blessed holiday season. F itter people move faster. Fitter people have a pep in their step like no other. Yes, money can buy lots of things, but it cannot buy the satisfaction from your choice to be healthy. Put the cigarettes down. Enjoy a glass of wine a day. Eat sensibly. Think of the quality of your life if you choose health. You can enjoy your children, your grandchildren and possibly your great- grandchildren. You can take your fam- ily to Disneyland, enjoy the rides, and or just sit and watch them with great posture — all without feeling wiped out at the end of the day. How about getting on airplane? Trav- el is so much easier when one is fit. Don’t want to depend on someone to bend down and tie your shoes for you? Stay active — and health follows. Our bodies are meant to move. Your body will thank you for it! Gina Rolow, owner of Body by Gina, is a personal trainer at Anytime Fit- ness. Rolow conducts one-on-one pri- vate sessions. semi-private sessions and a weekend boot camp. She also teaches fitness at Cal State Bak- ersfield and has a com- bined 30 years in the fit- ness industry. Questions or com- ments? Email Gina at [email protected]. PHOTOS PROVIDED Alicia Hammons’ advanced drama class at Fruitvale Junior High will celebrate its fifth year performing Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” on Friday, November 30 at 6:30 p.m. PHOTOS PROVIDED Maddie Taylor, 10, shows her piece she painted through the ArtCare Program dur- ing a recent stay at San Joaquin Commu- nity Hospital. Money can buy things, but having health is real ‘wealth’ YOUR HEALTH YOUR HEALTH TIP Hospital offers prayer, art therapy to sick child BY JAIME DONIAZ Community contributor F rom August through September this year, Kern Schools Federal Credit Union participat- ed in the Children’s Miracle Network’s Miracle Balloon and Miracle Jeans Day campaigns. Participation in these campaigns raised funds for children’s services at Bakersfield Memorial Hospi- tal, where Children’s Miracle Network provides comfort and treatment to children suffering from both common childhood afflictions, as well as life threatening illnesses. As part of the Miracle Bal- loon campaign, Kern Schools promoted the very recogniza- ble red and yellow Miracle balloons at all branch loca- tions. For a donation of $1 or more, members were able to place a name on a Miracle bal- loon for display in branch lob- bies. Kern Schools team members also showed their support by participating in Miracle Jeans Day, which for a $5 donation allowed an individual to wear jeans on a given work day. For these efforts, Kern Schools on Oct. 30 presented Children’s Miracle Network with a check for $5,430.90. Kern Schools is a proud sup- porter of Children’s Miracle Network and the assistance it provides children and families facing childhood illnesses. PHOTOS PROVIDED Kern Schools Federal Credit Union team members and representatives from Children’s Miracle Network hold a check for $5,430.90, which represents the amount of money Kern Schools raised to help local chil- dren and their families facing childhood illnesses. YOUR HEALTH Credit union campaigns for Children’s Miracle Network YOUR SCHOOLS School to perform ‘A Christmas Carol’ IF YOU GO Fruitvale Junior High’s “A Christ- mas Carol” DATE: Friday, Nov. 30 TIME: 6:30 p.m. (doors open at 6:05 p.m.) PLACE: Fruitvale Junior High’s multipur- pose room, 2114 Calloway Drive. COST: $6 for adults, $4 for children and Fruitvale Junior High students. Students should attend with a parent or guardian.
