A Story of Giving Back from an Outstanding Boosterthon Employee

This past holiday season, employees from Boosterthon volunteered to help the Duke Children’s Hospital foundation with their annual Mix 101.5FM Radiothon for Duke Children’s Hospital. The program lead for Raleigh Boosterthon, Joanna Slagle captured her and the team’s amazing experience giving back by helping answer phones, check in patient families for interviews and so much more for Duke Children’s Hospital. The following is her story, as told by her! If you are interested in volunteering at Duke Children’s click here! If you would like to give back like Joanna Slagle to Duke Children’s, click here!

The first day- I checked-in volunteers and patients/patient families that were going to be interviewed throughout the day. Another volunteer and I were more near the main entrance where families come through. but we couldn’t hear the music the radio station was playing live so I played some light-hearted Christmas music from my phone while dancing and singing along to it to hopefully bring smiles to families going by. My main point of contact for volunteering was cracking up at my “antics” and loved the joy and life I brought to the area. Many people stopped by our little table thinking we were the main registration for appointments and such, so it was heavy moments like those when a kid is there for an appointment for neurosurgery or a follow-up from chemo treatment that inspired me to figure out more ways than just sitting at the registration table to inspire and lighten the mood. ? I recognized some of the children that came in because they were enrolled at some of the schools I served in the fall!

2nd day- Sallie Edens and Keith Neal were with me volunteering! Keith and I both worked the phone bank to field calls about signing up to donate to the Radiothon for Duke Children’s Hospital and Sallie helped with the volunteer check-in and signing in of past or current patients and families who were going to be interviewed throughout the day on the radio station. Keith and I didn’t receive many phone calls so we tried to be as enthusiastic as possible from our seats (especially since we were facing the radio hosts) to try and get them to laugh or smile when they wanted phone bank volunteers to make some noise.

All-in-all, I wish I could’ve volunteered the whole time. I LOVED being able to do the volunteer check-in and patient interview check-in (the first shift, I did stay an hour and a half later ? ).

I had a blast my first time volunteering for the Mix 101.5FM Radiothon for Duke Children’s Hospital!

We were fun sidekicks the first day, and I’m so thankful I was with her because she actually works for Duke (just not in the Children’s Health).

Charlotte, Taylor, and Parker Reynolds were from Olive Chapel Elementary- Charlotte is only in kindergarten but dealing with cancer. My face lit up just as much as hers when I saw her come in! Children’s Miracle Network had done a lot with their family just before we commenced their school’s program, but I made a good relationship with her mom, especially when I got a picture with just Charlotte and gave her that picture in a signed frame from Katelyn Kennedy and me (I had taken a picture with her because she and I share a birthday and I thought this could be a lasting memory she could share. When I’d asked her mom if we could dedicate the fun run to her, she requested we let them be a “normal” family this time around for the experience but she appreciated the sentiments.) She’s the one that encouraged all of us to get in a picture (and the officer jumped in, too!)

We just HAD to jump in the photo booth!