'Humor cart' brings light touch to heavy hearts

Donna Mermel & Beth Polonsky

What part do bubbles, games, magic tricks, and funny glasses, play in the pediatric and adolescent patients' care plans at Advocate Lutheran General Children's Hospital in Park Ridge, IL? They are very important when they are part of the special medicine that travels from room to room on the humor cart. Colorfully dressed volunteers wearing funny hats and aprons announcing that Health is a Laughing Matter, bring smiles, giggles and belly laughs wherever they go by telling jokes, blowing bubbles and performing magic tricks.

The humor cart is just one of the many ways that volunteers assist the professional staff at Lutheran General, Colette Urban, Manager, Media Relations, said. Currently we have eight volunteers who staff the cart, but we would certainly welcome more.

Donna Mermel of Northbrook and Beth Polonsky of Arlington Heights have been friends since their children were little. They decided that they wanted to bring a humor cart to Lutheran General after attending a Jewish Women's International conference in 1979 that highlighted a similar program at Shriner's Hospital in St. Louis. Mermel, whose son, Craig, is a pediatric leukemia survivor, knows firsthand how therapeutic the effects of laughter can be. Craig was diagnosed when he was 12 and underwent three years of chemo treatment. He is now 26 years old, and studying oncology research at Harvard University.

When our son was a patient, anything that could take our minds off of why we were at the hospital was a welcome relief. To sit and laugh with our child allowed us some sense of normalcy, Mermel said. What's special about the cart is the reaction from not only the patients, but from the families as well. As the parent of a sick kid, I understand the stress and anxiety they are undergoing. They are wondering, worrying and waiting. We can't change their situation, but we can readjust their focus for a few minutes. Laughter and good humor provide both emotional and physical benefits. The cart is a great project, and laughing with the kids and feeling that we are making a difference in a patient's stay is very uplifting.

I am blessed, and since I don't work for pay, I work in the volunteer sector because I want to do something good with my life, Polonsky said. I enjoy the interaction, it's fun, and working with the cart brings me a great deal of satisfaction.

Specially trained volunteers have been offering this program since 1998, and in the beginning Mermel and Polosky were active volunteers and involved in all aspects of the cart. They did the fundraising and even organized a humor cart shower where people came and brought gifts and donations. Currently, they act as coordinators, and the hospital's Child Life Dept. sponsors and administers the program. Mermel and Polonsky still recruit and train volunteers, order supplies, and help out with whatever needs to be done.

Mermel and her husband Paul, are the parents of three children, Craig, Rachel, and Lauren, and the proud grandparents of Mayson, who is four months old. Polonsky and her husband, Mitchell have a son, Aaron, and a daughter Jenny Ingber.

Advocate Lutheran General Hospital is a 617-bed teaching, research and referral hospital, a Level 1 trauma center, and one of the largest hospitals in the Chicago area. It is also home to Advocate Lutheran General Children's Hospital, the only children's hospital in the greater north and northwest suburban area of Chicago, and a major regional referral center for a broad range of infant and pediatric services.

Volunteering at Lutheran General Hospital is just one of the hundreds of challenging and rewarding assignments available by contacting the Retired & Senior Volunteer Program at 847-228-1006 (age 55 years of age or better); or The Volunteer Center of Northwest Suburban Chicago 847-228-1320 (all ages, including students, groups and corporations).