We are celebrating National Volunteer Week at Children’s Minnesota April 20-26, 2025. Please join us in thanking all of our outstanding volunteers for the time, energy and dedication they bring to Children’s Minnesota.
In honor of National Volunteer Week, we are highlighting the impact our volunteers had on an extraordinarily inspiring patient: Temi.
Our volunteers and Temi
Temi spent more than 400 days in our hospital waiting for a heart transplant. She and her parents had the support of Child and Family Services – including volunteers – at every step of their journey.
Temi’s family recently shared their experience at our 2025 Star Gala.
Watch the video to see how all of Child and Family Services supported Temi and her family and keep reading to see additional quotes from Temi’s family about the importance of our volunteers in Temi’s care.
Temi’s impact on our volunteers
Annie Dressen, family resource & volunteer coordinator, shares the impact Temi had on the Children’s Minnesota volunteers.
“It’s just been so special to watch from when she was first admitted to now, how much she’s grown. … And it’s really special that volunteers, for that fourth of her life while she was here, got to watch and support her grow up and be a part of her care team.”
Overwhelming thanks for volunteers from Temi’s family
“Temi spent 465 days in the hospital, 465 days of a 5-year-old child. That is about a quarter of her life. We want to say thank you. We were able to leave our child and whenever we asked for volunteer services, we know that she’s in good hands.”
“Oh my god. It was a really, really beautiful day that day Temi was playing and she was just dancing back and forth and volunteer services was there singing along. It was so beautiful to watch.”
“We say thank you to the employees of Children’s Minnesota, both the doctors, the nurses, the volunteers, every one of them. They did a good job. They did a perfect job.”
This story is just one of many ways volunteers have left their mark on Children’s Minnesota. Our volunteers provide crucial support to our patients, families and staff.
The impact of our volunteers in 2024
In 2024, 373 volunteers donated almost 18,900 hours of service to Children’s Minnesota!
Here’s a look at some more 2024 statistics:
- Horticulture volunteers planted with 1,661 patients and families.
- Book Nook volunteers gave 5,460 books to families.
- Over 2,940 items from our clothes closets were given to families.
- The Amenities Cart served 9,019 families and 12,484 staff.
- Pets Assisting with Healing (PAWH) volunteers had 8,223 interactions over 699 hours.
- Resource Ambassadors connected with 2,759 families.
Thank you, volunteers, for everything you do to support our patients and families here at Children’s Minnesota!
