Texas Children’s is very fortunate to partner with many community organizations and companies to help us provide high quality patient and family experiences. Members Choice Credit Union, a full-service financial institution serving the greater Houston area, recently formed a partnership with our West Campus location.
Located directly across the interstate, Members Choice had an urge to work with the hospital to better serve the Katy community. After developing a relationship with West Campus leadership and the Child Life Department, they began hosting small events at the hospital.
“I reached out and made it clear that my team would be so eager to do something here because of how close we are and how passionate our staff is about children struggling with illnesses,” Members Choice Vice President of Strategic Initiative & Programs Joye Jackson said. “We constantly look for ways to help and volunteer in the community and Texas Children’s was one of the best choices that we could start with.”
Earlier this year, Jackson and her team inquired about how they could be more involved with the hospital and later agreed to sponsor West Campus’ Summer Family Fun Days series of events. Their financial and volunteer services allowed the campus to successfully produce three days in June and July, of fun activities for inpatients, outpatients and their families.
On June 19, the events began with games and face painting in the lobby, then a magic comedy show was held in the conference rooms. The second event on July 10, Members Choice team member provided stations for patients and their families to create slime just before Mad Science Houston presented a science demonstration with a hands on experiment. The final day of the series was held on July 31, as Tom’s Fun Band entertained children of all ages with an interactive music show and family board games.
“The primary goal of this summer series is to provide summer destination activities for our patients and families while strengthening community relations,” Child Life Activity Coordinator Mary Reddick said. “We are so thankful to Members Choice for their dedication to our patients and their families.”
“It has really been phenomenal. We love coming here, every time we come, it’s more than what we expected. Sometimes we wonder how many children we’re going to have, but once we’re here, they just come out from everywhere,” Community Relations Representative Vanessa Wheeless said. “It just does so much for us to put a smile on a child’s face and kind of take their mind off what is going on with them.”
Members Choice’s mission is people-helping-people by providing sound financial solutions and resources, as well as sharing their passion for supporting the community. Their goal this year as an organization was to be more active in the community and to offer more opportunities.
“It’s one thing to say you want to do for the community, but it’s another thing to actually do it and see the reactions,” Jackson said. “We want to be known as an organization that truly does give back. For Texas Children’s to open the doors and welcome and allow us to be hands on with our support, we really thank you for the opportunity. We’re grateful that Members Choice is able to provide this assistance, and we want to challenge other businesses and organizations to do the same.”
