3 Hospital Appreciation Ideas for Children’s Ministries

My church and my neighborhood are located just 2 miles down the road from a major hospital, and several of our church members work at the hospital or in the medical field. After talking with some of these frontline workers about how things are going, here are some of their responses:

• “Morale is dipping and community support has been lacking.”
• “Support was great at the beginning, but people have gone back to their normal lives, and there’s hardly any extra show of support now.”
• “Our employees need encouragement.”

“The staff is exhausted… The signs of support from the community will be a big morale booster for the staff.”

It’s obvious our local hospitals need some encouragement as they continue to risk their lives to save and protect ours. And what better place for that encouragement to come from than the church.

Here are some ideas for showing support and appreciation for the hospitals in your area:

1. Reach out – Contact your local hospitals (or even nursing homes) and ask them what they need. My ideas are born from conversations we’ve had with our hospitals and frontline workers. While they probably apply for your local hospital too, there may be an even more specific need. Reach out to the hospitals in your area and ask how your church and your children’s ministry can support and encourage them.
2. Cards and Signs – As you can see from the post above, an easy way to show support is to write/make cards and/or yard signs to send to the staff at your local hospital, and this is such an easy project for kids! Encourage kids and families to make thank-you cards for the hospital, then bring them to the church for you to deliver, or use part of your Sunday morning worship experience to have kids make thank-you cards. This is a simple and easy way to show support. (Psst – On Friday, we’ll share a free Thank You First Responders coloring page for kids to color and send! And if you want to make yard signs for your local hospital, we’ve made it easy with these Hospital Prayer & Support Signs you can customize with your church and hospital names.)
3. Snack Drive – One hospital worker mentioned that gift baskets or bins full of snacks are always a huge hit and much appreciated by the staff. And if there’s one thing kids understand, it’s the value of a yummy snack. Host a Snack Drive within your children’s ministry, encouraging families to bring in individually packaged snacks (granola bars, chips, fruit snacks, etc.). Deliver all of the snacks you collect to your local hospital to place in staff workrooms. Bonus: include the cards you made in the Snack Baskets too!

Our subscribers can download a FREE “Thank You First Responders” coloring page for kids here, and be sure to check out our Hospital Prayer & Support Signs resource to customize some encouragement signs or posters for the hospital(s) in your community!