Job Bank UCMC News Calendar Hospital Staff Administration Volunteers History Contact Us Qualifications and Awards Financial Arrangements Patient Rights and Responsibilities Advance Directives Visiting Hours Admissions and Discharge Gift Shop and Cafeteria 1530 N. Limestone Street Gaffney, SC 29340 864.487.4271 mail@upstatecarolina.org		Grassy Pond Students Draw Hospital's Christmas Cards Prepared by: Steve Wong Upstate Carolina Medical Center Marketing Phone 864-487-1515 Kids and Their Cards Six students from Grassy Pond Elementary School provided artwork for Upstate Carolina Medical Center’s 800 Christmas cards. There were Halley Gainey, Alex Copland, Molly Humphries, Jose Suarez, and Arianne Moreno. Absent is Manhoor Haq. Their art teacher Vickie Parks is proud of her students and their willingness to give their creative talents to a local community project. (Click the photo for a larger image.) In the mind of a child, Christmas in a hospital involves puppies that tower over nurses, snowmen dodging ambulances, and Santa squeezing down an incinerator’s exhaust (chimney). Those are three of the images six children from Grassy Pond Elementary School came up with when asked to draw artwork for Upstate Carolina Medical Center’s 2007 Christmas cards. The other three were just as cute and innocent. "Students drawing the artwork for our Christmas cards has become a hospital tradition," Marketing Director Steve Wong said. "We’ve done this for now for the past four or five years, and every year, they get cuter and cuter." Wong contacted the school in late November and asked the art teacher Ms. Vickie Parks if she would once again have her students draw Christmas scenes that might somehow also involve healthcare. "My only other request was that the drawings be colorful," he said. Just after Thanksgiving, Ms. Parks presented the hospital with six colorful hand-drawn pictures, that ranged from sunny skies, to nighttime, to snow storms. This year, the school selected the artwork from fifth graders Jose Suarez, Alex Copeland, Manhoor Haq, Molly Humphries, and Arianne Moreno; and fourth grader Halley Gainey. Both Manhoor Haq and Alex Copeland had artwork in last year’s (2006) set of hospital Christmas cards. By mid-December, nearly 800 custom-made Christmas cards had been sent to the hospital’s 400-plus employees, 100-plus physicians, and a far-reaching list of VIPs. When asked how they felt about their artwork being selected, Alex said "special" and Molly said "excited." Their art teacher said, "They really enjoy doing this every year. They look forward to it and get excited. What makes it special is that they know it is helping someone else and that they are giving a little bit of themselves." For their work, each child was given a teddy bear, some pencils and a $20 Wal Mart gift card. Alex Copland Arianne Moreno Halley Gainey Jose Suarez Manhoor Haq Molly Humphries 2007 News Archive