“She’s donated over seven thousand hours,” said Rachel Hedstrom, media relations director for the organization. “That’s almost 292 days if you crafted 24 hours straight.”

Nancy credits her mother who she calls “a big crafter” for her obsession with a glue gun and paint. A retired oncologist assistant, she knew that she wanted to give back by being a volunteer working with children battling cancer.

“Children are so positive and live for the moment,” Nancy said. “I felt the need after working for twenty-six years with doctors and nurses that were so positive and upbeat, to bring that same enthusiasm to the children.”

For the first seven years, Nancy and her husband funded all of the craft activities. To help save money, her 85-year-old father insisted on building all of the wood crafts needed for projects.

“If we need twenty-four shadow boxes made, I send him the example and he makes them all. He also does birdfeeders, birdhouses or anything we need,” she said. “He would do anything for these kids.”

Now due to a generous grant from the Clayton Dabney Foundation, she no longer has to dip into her personal finances, and is able to do two crafts a week with the children and their families. To save money, her father still insists on doing the wood work.

“She builds these incredible relationships with the patients and their parents,” said Cassie Collins, director of Volunteer Services at the hospital. “She spends all of this time doing the crafts with the kids then preparing for the next one, shopping for supplies then sitting at home cutting felt squares or whatever is needed for each project. The kids get excited and know that whatever she brings to make will be incredible.”

Nancy has up to twenty-four kids that take part in the craft sessions. She not only provides crafts each week to patients in the playroom, but also those in ICU and under hospice care. In fact, it was at requests from patients moving to these other areas during treatment that she expanded her arts program to make sure they didn’t feel left out.

One story that has stood out to her over the years was of a patient, one of Nancy's regulars, who transferred to hospice at home yet still wanted to do crafts.

"One craft I sent to her before Christmas was wooden ornaments," Nancy said. "The day that she was dying she told her mother, ‘I’ve got to finish these before I die.’ She finished them because she wanted her sisters to have them. I’ll never forget that. Just when you don’t think you make a difference you get stories letting you know to keep doing what you're doing. I have parents that their kids will wake up from ICU and the first thing they ask is, ‘Did I miss craft?’ I will never let any of my kids or families down.”

Far from it – what she does is bring them up.

"The crafts that Nancy provides, gives them a chance to take their mind off what is going on,” said Chivonda Montgomery whose 5-year-old son, Billy is a patient at the hospital. “We look forward to her visits. Nancy is a godsend."

"Nancy's crafts are fun," said Billy. "I like the flower pots and painting that she teaches us."

Patients can go to the playroom twice a day to get a break from their treatments to do things like play with toys, video games, puzzles, and a number of other activities. But it’s that twice a week visit from Nancy that they look forward to the most.

Patient, Madalyn White, 8, looks forward to and knows “the exact day Nancy is coming,” said her mother, Pam. “She wakes up excited and says, 'Nancy is coming today!' She is a true angel."

"The crafts are fun because they aren’t hard to make and very pretty," Madalyn said. "Nancy is very nice and I like it when she teaches us to make bird feeders."

Nancy’s crafts can run the gamut from seasonal Valentine’s Day to Christmas and even summer themed projects. For today’s craft, Nancy (pictured with Billy and Madalyn) made a cute spring painted flower pot arrangement with candy butterflies. Although she finds it a challenge to come up with ideas twice a week, her crafting buddies can rest assure that she’s armed with plenty of “how to” books to keep them challenged for years to come. That’s her plan.

“I’m sixty so as long as I can do it and the children will have me then I’ll do it. It brings such a blessing to my life and a purpose. That’s what life is all about – counting your blessings. And I see my blessings twice a week ready to start gluing.”

TIKI COCKTAIL READERS:
Here’s some exciting news for Tiki Cocktail readers. Each month Nancy will be sharing a craft idea that she is doing with her young crafters at Children’s that you can do at home with your family. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with to get us crafty as well! Stay tuned!

GET INVOLVED:
For more information on how you, your church, school, work, or youth group can get involved at Children’s Medical Center Dallas go to:

http://www.childrens.com/How_to_help/give_your_time.cfm?nav=415

Or go to www.childrens.com, click on "How to Help" and then see "Give Your Time" on the drop-down menu.

"Children's is a place for miracles. And in the last ten years I've seen countless miracles. It's a special place filled with special people." - quote from Nancy Johnson