Wednesday, February 5, 2025
When you see Kathryn Adkins scroll through her journal of 110 pages of meaningful
and memorable experiences, you know why she’s been a volunteer at Cook Children’s
Medical Center since 2017. When you hear her speak about being a volunteer, you hear
the passion that surrounds her more than 1,100 volunteer hours at Cook Children’s
and you know the “why” behind her efforts.
It comes as no surprise that the second-year student at the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine at The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth was nominated as a Volunteer of the Year at Cook Children’s.
“I am deeply grateful that someone has taken the time to recognize my contributions, and this reinforces my commitment to making a meaningful difference, both for the patients and their families,” Adkins said. “Nothing brings me more joy than helping these patients and families. I am thankful for the opportunity to serve.”
As Adkins enters her eighth year of volunteering at Cook Children’s, she has logged 1,167 hours of service in a variety of roles across various departments, including the emergency department, pain management yoga therapy, and the Child Life Zone, as well as holiday events and Camp John Marc. She is also part of perhaps the most popular program, the Cook Children’s PrayerBears program.
Every new patient that comes to Cook Children’s receives one of these donated bears. In 2024, 19,859 PrayerBears were delivered to patients, and Adkins was a big part of handing them out. Daily PrayerBear delivery is a substantial job, requiring volunteers to be on their feet for hours at a time and to walk miles within the hospital.
“I cannot say enough positive things about Kathryn,” said Robin Brazell interfaith ministry specialist/PrayerBear Program coordinator at Cook Children’s. “She has been giving of her time to the Cook Children’s PrayerBear Program since she was a teenager. She initially joined the PrayerBear volunteer team as part of the hospital’s Junior Volunteer Program, coming in on a weekly basis for a few hours. Once Kathryn began volunteering at PrayerBears, she loved it so much that she simply never stopped! After her time as a Junior Volunteer, Kathryn continued her studies at Baylor and volunteered during her school breaks as part of our College Volunteer Program. Amazingly, even now as a second-year medical school student at TCOM, Kathryn is still giving generously of her very limited free time to assist in PrayerBears!”
“I deliver PrayerBears to every new patient in the hospital, and I tell them, ‘This PrayerBear represents people who are thinking about you and your family and cheering you on,’” Adkins said. “This is my ‘why.’ It reminds me why I’m committed to become a doctor. Eventually, I’ll get there, but I want to help patients now. Volunteering is something that I can do right now to have a positive, meaningful impact on their lives. I don’t have to wait.”
UNTHSC TCOM Kathryn volunteering at a PrayerBears party with Robin
For nearly eight years, that’s exactly what Adkins has been doing. She estimates that she has seen over 100,000 patients and their families as a volunteer. Adkins has been journaling about her experiences with patients and families since 2017 and recalled a moment when she was able to help a patient by drawing on her experience at TCOM.
“One time I wasn’t even delivering bears, but I saw a little girl in the atrium. She was all alone and having a panic attack,” Adkins said. “She was scared because she wasn’t sure what was going on. I told her I go to medical school, and sometimes we start off our labs with a fun exercise to see our stress levels. Then, we determine what is a good exercise to help our stress levels and work through it. After assessing the girl’s levels, I did some breathing exercises with her, and it really helped calm her down. I told her if you can control your breathing, it’s impossible to have a panic attack. It was my medical knowledge and what I learned at TCOM that helped her.”
Adkins has delivered bears to patients in virtually all settings at Cook Children’s. She recalled approaching a room where a clinical therapy session was in progress, finding the patient’s mother waiting outside. The mother was upset and worried, repeatedly telling Adkins, “I’d rather be sick than my daughter.”
After handing her a bear for her daughter, Adkins reassured her that both she and her daughter were not alone. This comforted the mother so much that she insisted Adkins personally deliver the bear to her daughter. So, Adkins returned later and surprised the teenage girl with this message of encouragement. The teenager teared up. She expressed to Adkins her medical journey had been tough, and that this bear gave her hope.
“I’m able to stay there and comfort them, letting them know they are safe and in good hands, and that people are praying for them and thinking about them. Those are the little things that patients need,” Adkins said.
Adkins, who is a graduate of UNTHSC’s Medical Science program, was part of TCOM’s pediatric research program last summer and ended up doing research and shadowing a clinician at none other than Cook Children’s.
“Being part of the pediatric research program is my favorite thing I’ve done at TCOM,” Adkins said. “I was able to shadow Dr. Kasey Jackson with all of her patients, perform a few neuro exams, and complete a lot of research that was very meaningful to me. Those research hours and my research project can help make a difference. I want to listen to the patients and do everything that I can to support and improve their quality of life.”
There will be no life-long search for Adkins to discover her meaning or purpose. She has a passion for pediatric neuro-oncology and that’s her calling as a future physician, but don’t expect her to slow down her volunteering anytime soon. She helped organize a recent TCOM volunteer effort at Cook Children’s with the Pediatrics Club, where the students showed patients different medical tools and allowed them to practice on dolls they made, helping the patients feel more comfortable with what physicians will do.
“I’m here because I want to help families and the patients every way that I can,”
Adkins said. “I don’t mind spending a few hours of my day so these patients know they
are cared about. I realize I can’t fix everything with a bear, but it goes back to
my ‘why’ and the power of simply being there. I just love hearing their stories, and
I want them to know they aren’t alone.”
“Kathryn is a true blessing to me and to the Spiritual Care Department,” Brazell said. “She stands out amongst other PrayerBear volunteers as the one who has the deepest knowledge and experience of almost all aspects of the program. She is an outstanding team player who never fails to go the extra mile to help, even with tasks that are outside of the normal scope for PrayerBear volunteers. She is one of the most organized and reliable volunteers on the PrayerBear team, and I look forward to her shifts because she is always effective, efficient, and cheerful in what she does. I am incredibly grateful to have her as a PrayerBear volunteer and as a friend!”
From HSC Newsroom - Community by Steven Bartolotta