BOPDHB Checkup May 2017 | Page 23

Kiran Mall, Grace Lee and Thilini Perera, Whakatāne Hospital RMOs. Jane Eardley RMO, Zara Fowell, Physiotherapist and Emily Turner, Occupational Therapist. New PJs for Whakatāne Hospital Children’s Ward – thanks to local teens Brand new winter pyjamas are set to brighten up the faces of kids on the Children’s Ward at Whakatāne Hospital, thanks to a bunch of Whakatāne High School students in the Interact Rotary club. Three Year 12 students in the club handed over more than twenty pairs of brand new PJs to nurses on the ward this morning. Club president Shanelle Ward who is 16 says “We thought about the sick kids sitting in their hospital beds and wanted to provide a little something to brighten up their day.” Twenty-five students who are in the Whakatāne High School Interact Rotary club spent a weekend baking around 5- thousand cookies to raise funds for the pyjamas and other community projects. Interact Rotary clubs bring together young people ages 12-18 to develop leadership skills while discovering the power of ‘service above self’. Interact clubs are also run at other secondary schools around the district. Back row left to right: Student Nurse Suthasinee Taylor, Enrolled Nurse Carol Murphy, Medical student Brittany Aldridge and Registered Nurse Lee Willetts. Front row left to right: Whakatāne High School students Shanelle Ward, Caroline Paulsen and Mikayla King. Children’s Ward Shift Co-ordinator, Registered Nurse Lee Willetts was grateful for the donation, “They’ll definitely come in handy and make the kids feel a little bit better about being in hospital.” 23