GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Green Bay firefighters replaced their firemen helmets with Santa hats on Tuesday as they spread holiday cheer at St. Vincent Children’s Hospital.
Gifts were purchased through the generosity of the community, collected with help from Central Church in Green Bay, and then wrapped early Tuesday morning by the firefighters themselves.
The sight of firefighters in uniform was almost a bigger hit than the gifts themselves to children at the hospital. Kids young and old showed that they still get excited to see the fire department in person.
“I mean who doesn’t?” asks Andrew Collins, Green Bay Fire Chaplain. “I walk into firehouses and I get excited just seeing the fire trucks and the squads.”
Collins is amazed by the generosity of the community. He says most families are just getting by and have to focus on their family, but overwhelmingly people are displaying a giving mindset during the holiday season.
“Yeah, I may be tight this month, but if I spend an extra twenty bucks I can bring joy to someone,” explains Chaplain Collins. “That does come back to you, you don’t give just to get.”
There’s never a great time to have a sick child that has to be hospitalized, but it can be especially trying for a family during the holiday season.
The Henrickson family wasn’t planning on spending their holidays in the hospital, but had no choice after their 1-year-old child Corbin came down with a fever and suffered a seizure.
When a member of the family, especially a young child, becomes sick then all other aspects of life get tossed to the side.
“There’s all the stuff that you’re missing,” says Henrickson. “You’re just sitting here thinking about like ‘Oh, we’re going to miss this, we’re going to miss Christmas, we’re canceling plans the whole time.’”
The ongoing process of spending so much time inside the hospital can be mentally draining.
“It gets very old and monotonous around here,” explains Kurt Henrickson, father of 1-year-old Corbin. “It’s nice to have a little change of pace and see a friendly, smiling face.”
And the Green Bay firefighters are more than happy every holiday season to provide that much needed and much appreciated change of pace to families.
“To bring that Christmas experience to them here, I think it’s absolutely incredible,” says Chaplain Collins.
