Piece by piece, or rather rock by rock, smiles are growing at the Sanford Children’s Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
If you take a wander down to the Billion Pavilion, the bright, color-filled playground in front of the hospital, you’ll notice a long and winding row of rocks.
No, not the often-used reddish hue landscape pebbles – but those are there too. Within those red rocks rests a line of vibrantly painted rocks. These rocks, when laid side by side, create Perry the beloved caterpillar.
Giving back, sharing hope
The idea behind bringing Perry to life originated from Kim Bishop, program manager for technology solutions at Sanford Health, and Shelby Bruyer, IT project manager at Sanford Health.
Bishop said she and her team’s work makes a difference for Sanford, but most of their projects aren’t directly connected to patients. Their thought was by creating Perry, they would directly impact patients.
“We look for opportunities that allow us to really serve others within Sanford and within the community,” said Bishop.
“We came up with the name Perry the Caterpillar from the word perseverance. We feel like a lot of the kids, the families, the staff, a lot of them teach us a lot about perseverance through the castle and all of the children’s care,” explained Bruyer.
Bruyer and the team, comprised of about 20 IT workers at Sanford Health, painted around 50 rocks.
“We’re actually trying to get the families and kids involved. We want them to hopefully paint rocks as well, and then build (onto) Perry, kind of teaching them to feed the hungry caterpillar,” she added.
“Just reminding them that we’re all in this together, and that you’re not alone,” added Bishop.
Patients and families can help Perry grow
Bruyer said if children’s hospital patients or their families want to paint rocks, Child Life Services at Sanford will bring the supplies to them.
“One small thing can really make an impact to a lot of people. Just like the caterpillar is growing, this is touching so many others’ lives in addition to that. And it’s just through painted rocks.
“It doesn’t have to be something extravagant when it comes to volunteering. It can be something as small as painting a rock,” said Bruyer.
Sanford employees from other departments can also donate painted rocks to keep Perry growing.
Learn more
- Children’s Hospital Ambassador has ‘try anything’ spirit
- Child life specialists help patients like 7-year-old Carson
- Panda Cares Center of Hope opens at Children’s CARE Clinic
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Posted In Children's, Community, People & Culture, Sioux Falls
